Transformation on the Southern Ukrainian Steppe: Letters and Papers of Johann Cornies, Volume II: 1836–1842 9781487530280

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TRANSFORMATION ON THE SOUTHERN UKRAINIAN STEPPE Letters and Papers of Johann Cornies

VOLUME II: 1836–1842 Translated by Ingrid I. Epp Edited by Harvey L. Dyck, Ingrid I. Epp, and John R. Staples

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

© University of Toronto Press 2020 Toronto Buffalo London utorontopress.com Printed in Canada ISBN 978-1-4875-0449-6 (cloth) ISBN 978-1-4875-3029-7 (EPUB) ISBN 978-1-4875-3028-0 (PDF) (Tsarist and Soviet Mennonite Studies) Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Title: Transformation on the Southern Ukrainian steppe : letters and papers of Johann Cornies / translated by Ingrid I. Epp ; edited by Harvey L. Dyck, Ingrid I. Epp, and John R. Staples. Names: Dyck, Harvey L. (Harvey Leonard), editor. | Staples, John Roy, 1961− editor. | Epp, Ingrid I. (Ingrid Ilse), translator, editor. | Container of (work): Cornies, Johann, 1789−1848. Works. Selections. English. Series: Tsarist and Soviet Mennonite studies. Description: Series statement: Tsarist and Soviet Mennonite Studies | Includes bibliographical references and indexes. | Contents: v. 2. 1836−1842 | Translations from the German. Identifiers: Canadiana 20159035791 | ISBN 9781487504496 (v. 2 ; bound) Subjects: LCSH: Cornies, Johann, 1789−1848. | LCSH: Cornies, Johann, 1789−1848 − Correspondence. | LCSH: Germans − Ukraine, Southern − Correspondence. | LCSH: Mennonites − Ukraine, Southern − Correspondence. | LCSH: Germans − Ukraine, Southern – History − 19th century. | LCSH: Mennonites − Ukraine, Southern – History − 19th century. Classification: LCC DK508.425 G47 C67 2015 | DDC 940.2 This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Funded by the Financé par le Government gouvernement du Canada of Canada

In fond memory of Ingrid Epp, 1938–2016. A colleague and friend.

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Contents

List of Maps

ix

Preface

xi

Acknowledgments

xvii

Translator’s Note

xix

Introduction

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PART ONE: Correspondence 1836

3

1837

29

1838

99

1839

151

1840

213

1841

319

1842

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PART TWO: Johann Cornies’ Archaeological Excavation Reports Editors’ Introduction

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Reports

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Contents

Appendix I: Genealogy of Johann Cornies’ Immediate Family

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Appendix II: List of Correspondents

643

Appendix III: Glossary

647

Appendix IV: Chronology

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Index

653

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List of Maps

Map 1: Mennonite settlements in New Russia, circa 1880

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Map 2: The Molochnaia Mennonite Settlement

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Preface

The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the grasslands of the world open to agricultural settlement. In places as diverse as Argentina, the United States, Canada, South Africa, and Russia, people travelled to “promised lands” dreaming of peace, plenty, and escape from their overcrowded homes. They came with the urging and support of governments that viewed the grasslands as both a ground-spring of national wealth and a tabula rasa upon which to create new moral orders and shape new national identities. Russia’s expansion east to Siberia and south onto the steppe was born of this vision, but in the south – “New Russia,” as Catherine the Great named it – the Russian imperial project intersected with geopolitical realities that gave it unique shape. Beyond New Russia lay the Ottoman Empire, a powerful competitor with its own imperial ambitions. Expansion towards the Black Sea and the Balkans meant certain conflict between the two great powers. Geopolitics shaped the contours of Russia’s colonial project, and southward expansion was a carefully managed affair, constrained by the need to create communities that could support the Russian military. The clearest examples were the “military colonies” of peasant conscripts, relocated with their families to the New Russian frontier and ordered to build their own villages and grow their own food, all under harsh military discipline. The Russian administrative ideal was cameralism, a theory of centralized planning and tight control, administered through an obedient and well-trained bureaucracy. It relied in part upon providing models of proper behaviour to the Russian and Ukrainian peasants who moved to the empire’s new territories. Russia actively recruited settlers from the

Preface

German states as “model colonists” who could teach their progressive agricultural methods by example. Prussian Mennonites, renowned for their hard work and agricultural successes, became a central target for such recruitment. The Mennonites who immigrated to the Russian Empire in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries brought little with them beyond a deep-rooted Christian Anabaptist faith and a tradition of hard work. Settled in New Russia, they built villages, ploughed the rich prairie, and established model farmsteads. They built farm machinery, milled grain, and manufactured cloth, creating a bustling, prosperous community that, in the late nineteenth century, led the way in Russia’s nascent industrial revolution. By 1914, Mennonites were also the target of Russian nationalist resentment, singled out for their German language, their unorthodox religious beliefs, and their prosperity. The First World War, and then the Revolution, brought confiscations and persecution. Those who could, fled; those who remained were impoverished and – when they clung to their faith – harried, imprisoned, and killed. By 1991 the Mennonites had become a “blank page” in Russian and Soviet history, unknown even to the people who occupied the homes they had once built. The surviving remnants in Siberia and Central Asia well knew to keep their beliefs to themselves. The Russian Mennonite story remained alive in the émigré communities that had left Russia in successive waves beginning in the 1870s and continuing into the 1940s. They settled in Canada, the United States, and South America, built new villages, and transplanted their Russian successes – and religious disputes – to their new homelands. The story these Mennonites preserved was mainly one of faith and suffering. Filtered through their late Russian and Soviet experiences, it stressed their religious values and sense of community. It ignored (or did not understand) their role in the larger Russian story of colonization and economic development. This was true even in the work of secular historians, who depended almost exclusively on in-group Mennonite accounts. This document collection addresses the first period of Mennonite settlement. It reveals that the foundations of Russian Mennonite prosperity were hard work, self-discipline, and entrepreneurial spirit. It likewise reveals the fermentation of religious beliefs in their community. Significantly, it also depicts a sometimes contentious, sometimes

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cooperative, constantly evolving relationship with neighbouring peoples and the Russian state. This collection unveils the Russian colonial world through the eyes of Johann Cornies and his many correspondents. Cornies was the leading figure in his community – an ambitious, entrepreneurial, and energetic reformer. He accrued great wealth and power, and he devoted himself to transforming New Russia. In Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the West, his keen mind and tremendous work ethic brought him acclaim. In the Mennonite community it brought him respect, but also deep hostility as his reform plans – and his imperious manner – generated controversy. Johann Cornies’ correspondence and studies offer a rich and varied feast. They depict a Russian colonial world where colonists could play a key role in shaping their own fate, and even gain influence at the highest levels of imperial power. They reveal a Mennonite community in which money and political connections sometimes competed with tradition and religious authority but sometimes worked hand-in-hand with them. Not least, they open a window onto the personal life of a remarkable man. This Volume The selection, translation, and editing of Johann Cornies’ papers has posed a series of significant challenges. Copies of Cornies’ personal and business correspondence, along with the correspondence of the Molochnaia Forestry Society and Agricultural Society, are preserved in the Ukrainian State Archive of the Odessa Region, intermingled with other Mennonite records. Originally gathered by the Molochnaia Mennonite Peter J. Braun, the collection was seized by the Soviet government in 1929 and then disappeared. It was rediscovered in 1990 and in the mid-1990s was microfilmed and distributed as the Peter J. Braun Russian Mennonite Archive to selected Western depositories by the University of Toronto’s Research Program in Tsarist and Soviet Mennonite Studies.1 Between the time of the Soviet seizure of the documents and their rediscovery, some documents disappeared (primarily during Germany’s Second World War occupation of Ukraine), some were damaged beyond repair, and some were destroyed. What remains is not a complete collection; even so, the tens of thousands of surviving pages provide a remarkable and coherent record of Mennonite life under the tsars. In this published

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collection the material of the Braun archive has been supplemented with documents from other archives, collections in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere,2 and articles by and about tsarist Mennonites in the pages of the biweekly Unterhaltungsblatt fuer deutsche Ansiedler im suedlichen Russland. The vast majority of the documents are written in German Gothic script, often as copies of originals hurriedly prepared by Cornies’ various secretaries, but sometimes in Cornies’ own crabbed hand. Reading the documents is sometimes difficult and occasionally almost impossible; their translation represents more than a decade of painstaking work by Ingrid I. Epp, whose knowledge of the contents of the collection (and of nineteenth-century Mennonite German orthography) was unequalled. Not everything that Cornies wrote is insightful, interesting, or revealing, and not all of it merits publication. The editors have tried to select documents that reveal: • administrative policies and practices of Cornies and of local, regional, and central governments and organizations; • religious beliefs and practices of Cornies himself, of tsarist Mennonites, and of their neighbours and contacts at home and abroad; • influences on Cornies, whether religious, philosophical, administrative, or practical, and Cornies’ religious, philosophical, administrative, and practical influence on people and organizations he came into contact with; and • Cornies’ personal life, including his interactions with friends and family. Frequently Cornies wrote what amounted to form letters reporting on his activities and offering advice and recommendations to his friends and superiors. For example, Cornies’ letters to Samuel Contenius and Andrei Fadeev are often very repetitive. A major task of the editors has been to select for publication what they regard as the most informative or clearest versions of such letters. A second major challenge has been to select and include representative examples from the correspondence of the Forestry and Agricultural Societies, of which only a small percentage survives. Cornies chaired and actively administered these societies, and their correspondence

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clearly represents his activities and attitudes, so there can be no question that they belong in this collection. However, they are often highly repetitive, sometimes, for example, consisting of identical letters sent to each village in the Molochnaia settlement. The editors have selected representative samples of this correspondence that elucidate important society policies and initiatives and document significant events. The documents selected for inclusion in the collection have been rigorously edited. The editors’ first principle has been to retain the literal meaning of the documents at all cost. Beyond this, significant editing has been necessary. German syntax does not translate easily into English, and nineteenth-century tsarist Mennonite syntax – sometimes constructed by writers with little formal education – is often tortuous. Consequently, long sentences have been shortened and confusing syntax has been simplified in the interest of clear communication. One of the greatest challenges has been to retain the documents’ original tone. Cornies was painfully aware of the social and political hierarchies within which he operated, and his correspondence with those whom he recognized as his superiors is frequently couched in terms of fawning obeisance. This is particularly apparent in the paragraph-long salutations that begin many of Cornies’ letters, and their length and repetitively formulaic nature have led us to sharply abbreviate them, while retaining titles and attempting to replicate the signifiers of rank and status that appear in the body of the letters. Those readers for whom such signifiers are essential will have to turn to the originals. Most of the correspondence is presented in strict chronological order, based on the date it was written. The significant exceptions are the series of ethnographic studies written by Cornies, which are grouped together separately in the second part of the first volume, and the archaeological excavation reports, which are grouped together in the second part of the second volume. The division of the collection into three volumes is necessitated by its sheer size. The dividing points are based on the quantity of correspondence, but they are not otherwise arbitrary. Volume 1 ends in February 1836, on the eve of the creation of the Molochnaia Mennonite Agricultural Society. Volume 2 ends in 1842 with Cornies’ report on the Mennonite community’s progress at the end of a tumultuous year of internal disputes climaxing in the Warkentin affair. The last of the four ethnographic studies published in Volume 1

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is undated but was certainly written after May 1836. It is included in Volume 1 in order to keep Cornies’ major ethnographic writings together.

NOTES 1 Harvey L. Dyck and Ingrid I. Epp, The Peter J. Braun Russian Mennonite Archive: A Research Guide (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996). 2 Ibid.

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Acknowledgments

This project was made possible by the 1990 opening to scholarly study of previously secret collections in Soviet archives. One such collection in the Ukrainian State Archive of the Odessa Region, titled “Mennonite Society in the County of Berdiansk,” contained a rich collection of letters and papers of Johann Cornies, a leader in the settlement and transformation of the New Russia frontier (today southern Ukraine). The three volumes of this project are based on a selection from this and other sources. We are deeply grateful to Vladimir Malchenko, then director of the Odessa Archive, and Olga Konovalova, his associate, for drawing to our attention the existence of these sources, for guiding us through their intricacies and organization, and for agreeing to and overseeing their microfilming. For their encouragement and assistance at every stage of our work, and for providing space, we thank Carol Moore, past chief librarian, University of Toronto Libraries, and her colleagues: Larry Langford, head of access and information; Karen Turko, head of microtext; and Jim Ingram, microtext specialist. Richard Ratzlaff, our then editor at the University of Toronto Press, cheerfully oversaw the creation of this volume, and editor Stephen Shapiro helped shepherd it into print.

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Translator’s Note

The source of most of the Johann Cornies correspondence, and of his other documents, is the Peter J. Braun Russian Mennonite Archive, housed in the State Archives of the Odessa Region in Ukraine. They were gleaned by checking the microfilm of the somewhat disorganized files of the first half of the Braun Archive and cover the years 1812 to 1848, the period of Cornies’ activity. All of the German documents are in the German Gothic script that was in use at the time. Many were written in a careful, regular hand; others were obviously dashed off or written by someone with limited practice in writing. The documents themselves show many personal styles and personalities, and it is regrettable that these cannot be conveyed adequately without turning the translations into quaint documents. Translation methods have been as direct as possible. The German umlaut has been translated using the conventional method of adding the letter ‘e’ after the vowel with the umlaut. The spelling of German names has not been changed; Russian names have been spelled in the Library of Congress style of transliteration from Russian into English. The reference for the spelling of Mennonite village names is the map reproduced in Franz Issac’s Die Molotschnaer Mennoniten. Names of organizations have been translated into English, for example, “Agricultural Society” for “Wirtschaftlicher Verein.” Titles of German publications are given in German with the literal English translation following in brackets. Sometimes translations could not be found for individual terms – often either terms of local application, or terms transferred from Russian – and in these cases the translator has made an attempt to convey the sense of the sentence, sometimes including the term in the document in square brackets.

Map 1: Mennonite settlements in New Russia, circa 1880. Harvey L. Dyck, translator and editor, A Mennonite in Russia: The Diaries of Jacob D. Epp, 1851–1880 (University of Toronto Press, 1991).

Map 2: The Molochnaia Mennonite Settlement. William Schroeder and Helmut Huebert, eds., Mennonite Historical Atlas, 2nd ed. (Springfield Publishers, 1996). Used with permission.

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Introduction John R. Staples

Johann Cornies played a central role in the tsarist Mennonite community that settled along the Molochnaia River in southern Ukraine beginning in 1804. He used his keen understanding of the economic and environmental conditions of his region, his wealth, and his broad contacts in the tsarist administration to help his community survive and flourish in times of internal strife, administrative shifts, and harvest failures. His extensive correspondence and studies provide a unique window onto both the tsarist Mennonite community and the administrative world of the Russian colonial periphery in the first half of the nineteenth century. Volume 1 of this three-volume document collection traces Cornies’ rise to prominence in his community and the formation of his broad network of official and unofficial contacts in Russia and abroad in the years 1811 to 1836. Volume 2 picks up the story as General Ivan Nikitich Inzov, head of the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Colonists in New Russia, ordered the creation of the Mennonite Agricultural Society, with Cornies as its chairman. It concludes with the Warkentin affair, which rocked the Mennonite settlement and pushed it to the precipice of a potential religious and political catastrophe. Cornies’ complete political victory in 1842 left him free to pursue his most ambitious reforms, which are documented in Volume 3. The creation of the Agricultural Society offered Cornies a broad new vista for his reform agenda, but it came with serious risks. By 1836 the aging General Inzov was providing little leadership, and the Guardianship Committee seemed on the path to elimination, doomed to be pushed aside by the Ministry of State Domains. In the short term this created a power vacuum in New Russia and left Cornies without the

Transformation on the Southern Ukrainian Steppe

official patronage that had played an important role in his rise to influence. His opponents within the Mennonite Settlement tried to use the situation to their advantage, mounting a strong challenge to Cornies’ power and his reform program. Volume 2 reveals Cornies’ negotiation of a shifting internal and external political landscape even as he guided his community through an equally shifting economic landscape. Before 1836 The introduction to Volume 1 of this series provides a full overview of Cornies’ life and times, so the present introduction only briefly summarizes the period before 1836. Cornies, his brothers Peter and David, and his sister Katherina (1800–1808) immigrated to New Russia with their parents, Johann Sr. and Aganetha, in 1805; a fourth brother, Heinrich, was born shortly after their arrival. The family settled in the Molochnaia Mennonite settlement along the Molochnaia River just south of present-day Melitopol. The Molochnaia, a semi-arid steppe region with rich black soil, was on Russia’s colonial frontier. It was peopled by semi-nomadic Nogai Tatars and by other peasant newcomers, including Lutherans and Catholics from the Germanic states and Ukrainian and Russian peasants from the Russian Empire’s interior provinces. The Mennonites were exceptional agriculturists, recruited by the Russian state because of their reputation as hard-working and progressive subjects. They were fleeing the Prussian state’s increasingly intrusive demands. The pacifist Mennonites feared that Prussia would impose military obligations on them that were incompatible with their religious beliefs. They negotiated a Privilegium with the tsar that carefully defined their rights to land and religious freedoms, including an exemption from military service, in exchange for their obligation to serve as a model for other colonists in the region. This was a good bargain for both parties – within fifteen years the Molochnaia Mennonite settlement had gained the reputation of an “oasis on the steppe” where grain fields, orchards, and herds of cattle and sheep flourished in an otherwise apparently barren region. The Cornies family acquired a fullholding – a sixty-five-desiatina land allotment – in the village of Ohrloff on the southern edge of the settlement. Johann, the eldest son, soon went to work at the village flour mill, and then became a small trader carting butter and cheese to markets in the Crimea. In 1811 he took advantage of a government program to encourage sheep-breeding and leased a swathe of pasture just

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east of Ohrloff along the Iushanle River. With his profits from sheep he partnered with his friend Wilhelm Martens to buy the regional brandy monopoly, which gave them control of the distribution of all spirits in the region. By 1817 he owned one of the largest sheep herds in the region, had purchased his own fullholding in Ohrloff, and was moderately wealthy. Along with Cornies’ economic success came community respect, reflected in his 1817 appointment as the settlement’s land surveyor. This was an important position, for beginning in 1818 a second wave of immigrants began to arrive from Prussia. The settlement appointed Cornies to the Settlement Commission, where he played a key role in choosing new village sites. This marked the beginning of his engagement with community affairs and led to his first contact with officials on the Guardianship Committee. The new immigrants brought with them from Prussia new experiences and ideas, including a strongly pietist sensibility that was controversial in the religiously conservative Molochnaia. Cornies, who had close contact with the new immigrants as a result of his role on the Settlement Commission, welcomed their more worldly attitudes. This was reflected in his expanding role in the community: in 1820 he was one of the founding members of the Christian School Association, and in 1821 he helped form a Molochnaia chapter of the Russian Bible Society, an offshoot of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Conservative Mennonites viewed both of these new organizations as dangerous innovations, and their creation helped spark a deep division in the settlement. Conservatives believed that the original Mennonite congregation – the Flemish congregation – was too accommodating to the pietist newcomers, and in 1824 they formed the Large Flemish Congregation under the leadership of Jacob Warkentin. More than half the Molochnaia Mennonites joined the new congregation. Warkentin now became a powerful figure both religiously and politically, and he and Cornies became bitter enemies. Warkentin used his position to influence elections for positions in the Gebietsamt (the elected settlement administration) and resisted anything that hinted at religious innovation. In particular he was an implacable opponent of the School Society, which he saw as a beachhead for secularism. In 1823 the Guardianship Committee appointed Cornies chairman of a newly created Sheep Society as part of its effort to promote economic reforms in the region.1 The committee viewed Mennonite participation in such projects as part of its obligations under the Privilegium. Cornies’

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work with the committee heightened the tensions between him and Warkentin, who believed that Mennonites ought to take no role in the state’s administrative apparatus. The conflict between Cornies and Warkentin peaked in 1826, when the Guardianship Committee asked the Mennonite Gebietsamt to send Cornies to Saxony to buy pure-bred merino sheep. The committee expected the Mennonites to pay for the trip and the sheep from community funds, arguing that the improved wool from the sheep would soon pay for the expenses. To the dismay of both the committee and Cornies, the Gebietsamt flatly refused. A furious and embarrassed Cornies resigned his position as land surveyor and went to Saxony on his own. This conflict marked the end of Cornies’ attempt to work for change from within the Gebietsamt as well as the beginning of nearly a decade of Warkentin’s dominance in the Molochnaia. Cornies returned to the Molochnaia in October 1827 and soon after fell seriously ill. The trip, and his illness and convalescence, removed him from community affairs for almost a year. When he returned to health in mid-1828 he focused his attention on his own business affairs. He remained chair of the Sheep Society and secretary of the School Society, but for a time he steered clear of settlement politics. Warkentin’s victory in Molochnaia Mennonite politics had potential consequences beyond the settlement. Tsar Nicholas I’s ascension to the Russian throne in 1825 was met by the Decembrist Revolt, and while the revolt quickly fizzled, his reign was marked from the outset by repression of the “Western” ideas he associated with the rebels. In the short term this did not mean much for Mennonites or other foreign colonists, for Nicholas’ fears were focused on elites. For Russian officialdom, on the other hand, there was a danger that the new broom might sweep clean. Nicholas ascended the throne determined to get a grip on the internal administration of the empire, which his predecessor Alexander I had neglected in his final years. Officials – ambitious ones especially – would need to demonstrate their loyalty and value to the new tsar. Andrei Fadeev, the director of the regional office of the Guardianship Committee that oversaw the Mennonites, was certainly ambitious, and he bridled at his isolation in a regional backwater like Ekaterinoslav. His ticket to higher office was the Mennonites, the shining success story of the entire foreign colonist enterprise. Warkentin and the conservative attitudes he represented posed a challenge to Fadeev’s ambitions. He needed a progressive ally in the community, and Cornies, who had

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worked closely with the Guardianship Committee since the early 1820s, was the obvious choice. The Ministry of Internal Affairs provided Fadeev with an agenda in 1828 when it announced a new afforestation initiative.2 The ministry saw the lack of trees on the southern steppe as a serious economic problem, and it ordered the creation of forestry societies across New Russia. Broadly speaking, this program was an abject failure; without strong local administration and financial support, such initiatives never amounted to anything but a waste of scarce paper. Fadeev, however, oversaw a Molochnaia Mennonite population that had already planted thousands of trees of its own accord, and of course the Privilegium obliged the Mennonites to provide a model for other colonists. Fadeev was well-attuned to the internal politics of the Molochnaia Mennonite settlement, where the Warkentin-dominated Gebietsamt was unlikely to provide leadership in this new forestry initiative. So instead, in 1830 Fadeev sent a draft afforestation program directly to Cornies. It proposed bypassing the Gebietsamt and creating a Forestry Society funded by the Guardianship Committee and headquartered on Cornies’ estate at Iushanle, as far as physically possible from the settlement’s administrative centre of Halbstadt. Cornies was to be the new society’s chairman, and its other members would be his hand-picked allies. Fadeev issued a charter creating the Molochnaia Mennonite Forestry Society in 1831.3 It charged Cornies with creating a systematic afforestation program throughout the Molochnaia settlement, with a village forestry plot in every village and a private forestry plot on every fullholding. The society’s role was to educate Mennonites about planting and raising trees, to distribute seeds and saplings, and to inspect and report on progress. In the event that some Mennonites refused to cooperate with the new initiative, the Guardianship Committee tasked the Gebietsamt with enforcing the Forestry Society’s orders. The Forestry Society quickly became the success story that Fadeev needed in order to advance his career, and within a few years trees had become one of the Molochnaia settlement’s signature achievements. The Forestry Society also launched Cornies back into Molochnaia politics and put him on a collision course with Jacob Warkentin. The key political issue in the settlement was whether the Mennonites were to be an active or a passive model for other colonists. The Privilegium was ambiguous on this front. Russia recruited Mennonites to New Russia because they were already model agriculturists, and their early successes consisted mainly of re-creating their prosperous Prussian

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agricultural villages in Russia. When travellers first raved about a Molochnaia “oasis on the steppe,” it was this achievement they were praising. Warkentin and his supporters – the majority of Molochnaia fullholders in the 1830s – argued that Mennonites had fulfilled their bargain with the state. Their reward, defined by the Privilegium, was religious freedom, which they interpreted as the right to be left alone as a self-administered quietist religious community. The problem for Warkentin and his supporters was that Nicholas I did not share their interpretation of the Privilegium. He wanted more from his foreign colonists; indeed, he wanted more from his entire population. At the local level the creation of the Forestry Society foreshadowed the greater demands to come. In December 1834 Nicholas appointed General Pavel Dmitrievich Kiselev to his Secret Committee on Peasant Affairs. Kiselev was a long-time proponent of peasant reforms, and Nicholas ordered him to develop a plan to reform the state peasantry, a broad category that included the Mennonites. In 1836 the Secret Committee evolved into the Fifth Department of the Tsar’s Own Chancellery, and in 1838 it became the Ministry of State Domains. Kisilev served as the Minister of State Domains until Nicholas’ death in 1854. Under his leadership the ministry played a critical role in paving the way for the emancipation of the serfs in 1861.4 The appointment of Kiselev to the Fifth Department and then the Ministry of State Domains was a sign of Nicholas’ determination to become much more actively involved in the lives of his state peasants. Far away on the Molochnaia River no one could possibly know what the appointment portended, but within the tsarist administration the implications quickly began to manifest themselves: ambitious officials would need to show results. Fadeev’s future rode on the success of the Mennonites, and particularly on that of his chief Mennonite ally, Cornies. For Fadeev, Warkentin’s conservative vision of the Mennonite model was unacceptable. In 1834 Fadeev and Cornies began talking about extending the Forestry Society model by creating an Agricultural Society that would place all Mennonite economic activity under Cornies’ control. That year Cornies cautioned against moving too quickly – the Great Drought of 1833–34 had dealt a severe economic blow to the settlement, and he knew this was not the time to push so hard.5 Instead he concentrated on Forestry Society projects. In January 1835 he also made a subtle political move that showed he had learned from his political bungling in the

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1820s: he invited Johann Regier, the Gebiestamt mayor and Warkentin Congregationalist, to begin attending Forestry Society meetings.6 The society’s charter prohibited Gebietsamt officials from being members, but Cornies knew that the Gebietsamt’s cooperation would be vital to his success. Soon he and Regier became friends and allies. In 1833 the Forestry Society had carried out a detailed inspection of the entire settlement, and in the process they unearthed the issue that would take centre stage in the political struggles of 1836–42. The inspections alerted Cornies to the widespread, unauthorized sale of fullholdings.7 Landowning – the possession of a fullholding – was central to Molochnaia Mennonite economic and political life. The Russian economy was almost entirely agricultural, and there were few ways to make a living in the Molochnaia that were not based on agricultural land. Politically, only fullholders had the right to vote in Gebietsamt and village elections. The settlement had a finite amount of good agricultural land, and almost all of it had been distributed by the mid-1820s. As a consequence, by the 1830s there was a large landless population that relied on agricultural labour and small crafts for survival. The 1833 inspections revealed that at least one hundred fullholdings had changed hands without formal approval in the previous year alone.8 This very high rate of turnover was probably a recent phenomenon; the first generation of immigrants was growing old, and it was natural that land should be transferred to a younger generation, while the rapidly growing population was generating a high demand for fullholdings. Additionally, the first consequences of the Great Drought of 1833 were being felt, making some fullholders eager to sell. Whatever the motivation for such unauthorized sales, they provided Cornies with important leverage for his reform plans. Some Mennonite fullholders dragged their feet in implementing the Forestry Society’s plans, particularly during and immediately after the Great Drought, and the society had few ways to force cooperation. It could levy small fines and community labour, but even here, if fullholders did not cooperate the society’s only means to enforce the punishments was to ask the Gebietsamt to intervene. Warkentin dominated the Gebietsamt, and the Forestry Society’s reforms were exactly the kind of external interference in the settlement that he opposed. Cornies alerted Fadeev to the illegal land sales and proposed that in future all purchasers be required to sign a formal contract that obliged them to adhere to Forestry Society treeplanting regulations, along with a variety of other requirements for the

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maintenance of their fullholdings. Fadeev approved, and ordered that the Gebietsamt introduce the contracts, which were drafted by Cornies. Cornies now had the leverage he needed to force Molochnaia fullholders to follow Forestry Society orders. This arrogated to Cornies significant administrative authority, and accounts of fullholder defiance describe an impatient and authoritarian Cornies imperiously demanding compliance with society policies. One oft-repeated instance is recounted by Heinrich Goerz: “The story is told of a lazy farmer who had not planted the prescribed number of trees on his farm. After a time representatives of the Society arrived to inspect the plantings. They went into the garden and when the farmer bent down to look for the trees among the weeds – trees which were not there because they had never been planted – the passing chairman gave him several sharp whacks across the seat of his trousers.”9 Goerz makes light of such stories, saying that Cornies’ actions were “commensurate with the times,” but not everyone in the community was so blasé. Such colourful examples have become part of Mennonite lore, and they undoubtedly reflect Cornies’ manner by the mid-1830s. Still, the scandalous reports of protest and defiance provided by Goerz and other Mennonite historians, and Cornies’ harsh responses, leave an impression of widespread rebellion that is not supported by the records of the Forestry Society. In fact, the surviving records suggest that the vast majority of fullholders cooperated fully in the program. The reports recount that some householders misunderstood either the correct planting methods or the reporting requirements that went with them and that the society corrected but did not punish them.10 In other cases, the society assessed fullholders small monetary fines and, in extreme cases, extra communal duties such as dam or road maintenance. The vast majority of Forestry Society reports suggest that defiance of the type recounted by Goerz was a rare exception. However, Forestry Society records also show that by 1836 Cornies was beginning to expand his authority well beyond what was envisioned in the Forestry Society charter. In February 1836, only a few months before the creation of the Agricultural Society, an inspection trip revealed concerns about twenty-two fullholders. In most of these cases the society reported that the fullholders were beyond recovery: Dirk Boldt of Neukirch was “a slacker … addicted to drink”; Jacob Baerg of Marienthal was “unmotivated and [had] no prospects”; in Wernersdorf there was “no hope for improvement in the farming of three householders, Kaethler, Engbrecht and Giesbrecht.”11 The Forestry Society’s

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solutions to these problems went far beyond the letter of the society’s charter: again and again it urged that the Gebietsamt force these landowners to give up their fullholdings. The Forestry Society did not itself have the authority to compel fullholders to sell their property; it could only pressure village offices to take action. When the village offices failed to do so, the society then pressed them to refer matters to the Gebietsamt. Notably missing from this process was the congregational leadership, and this portended the political battle that was looming. The Forestry Society could neither compel the transfer of fullholdings through civil authority nor bring pressure from the church to bear. It would need to expand its authority even further to do more, and that expansion was going to be controversial. As Cornies’ authority grew, a second factor loomed in Molochnaia politics: the declining power of the Guardianship Committee. The first indication came in 1834, when the committee closed its Ekatrinoslav office and transferred Fadeev to Odessa.12 In late 1835 word of a far more momentous change reached the Mennonites: Fadeev was to be transferred to Astrakhan as guardian of the Kalmyk Tatars.13 Cornies very clearly recognized the significance of these changes. He relied upon the power of the state to push through his plans, and that power was rooted in his personal relationship with Fadeev. Cornies now scrambled to lay the basis for a transfer of allegiance, asking Fadeev to do all he could to ensure that Cornies would still have the ear of the authorities in Odessa. At the same time, he rushed to push through one last, major project while Fadeev remained in his present positon. He wrote to Fadeev urging the creation of the Molochnaia Agricultural Society.14 Fadeev agreed, for he acknowledged that after his transfer he would “no longer be able, as before, to cooperate in advancing the well-being of the Molochnaia Mennonite District.”15 The correspondence that followed reveals the complex interweaving of personal and public interests in Tsarist frontier administration. Letters criss-crossed each other’s paths across the steppe between Odessa and Ohrloff, so it is difficult to clearly identify a chronology of requests and promises, but the general intent is clear enough. Fadeev promised Cornies support for society and community interests, and at the same time he asked what he could do for Cornies personally. Cornies replied suggesting that it might be helpful if General Inzov “were to send a communication forcefully reminding all preachers that, as fulholders, they were obliged to be examples to others in their community. And by admonishing community members to obey orders from the

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Society in a timely fashion, they are required to support the Society when difficulties occur.”16 In the same letter he asked if Fadeev could advance his decade-long quest to gain ownership of his 3800 desiatinas of leased land at Iushanle.17 Fadeev responded with a personal request of his own – could Cornies lend him 1500 or 2000 rubles to cover moving expenses?18 Cornies quickly agreed to the loan and also offered to hire horses and wagons for Fadeev’s journey.19 A few days later Fadeev reported that General Inzov was sending an “exhortation” to the church leaders, and he told Cornies that efforts were under way to secure the Iushanle land and he should be patient.20 Cornies received notification of a permanent grant of 500 desiatinas of his land at Iushanle eight months later.21 The Agricultural Society Fadeev took the proposal for the new society to Inzov, who approved it in March 1836; it officially came into being in May 1836.22 Its creation shows Cornies’ growing authority. The Agricultural Society had much more power than the Forestry Society and would eventually govern all the economic activities of Molochnaia Mennonites. Inzov granted Cornies virtually free reign in defining the new society’s authority in internal Mennonite economic affairs.23 Fadeev’s parting gift made Cornies stronger, but Fadeev’s actual departure to Astrakhan had the opposite effect. Inzov, now sixty-eight years old, was in ill health and was losing interest in colonial affairs. The era of large-scale colonization in New Russia was over, and along with it much of the justification for the Guardianship Committee’s existence. Tsar Nicholas was focused on state peasant reforms, and his preference was to treat all of his state peasants, foreign colonists included, as a common problem. With the creation of the Fifth Department in 1836 there was every reason to expect that the Guardianship Committee would soon be disbanded. For the time being there was a temporary power vacuum, and this set the stage for the coming Molochnaia Mennonite political battle, which focused on the interference of the Agricultural Society in the affairs of fullholders, particularly regarding the allocation and use of land. Both Warkentin and Cornies identified the Privilegium as central to the dispute. For Mennonites it had a quasi-constitutional character, as a legal document that defined their relationship to the Russian state. Cornies constantly invoked the Privilegium’s requirement that

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Mennonites act as models to justify his reforms, and in 1837 Warkentin travelled to the Khortitsa Mennonite settlement to look at the original copy of the document, apparently seeking support for his position that the Mennonites were free to reject innovations that they regarded as incompatible with their religious beliefs. It is wrong, however, to suppose that either Warkentin or Cornies naively believed that the Privilegium could really constrain the tsar’s arbitrary authority to dictate and change policy towards the Mennonites. Instead, both saw it as the basis of a negotiated relationship between the Mennonites and the state; what they fought over was the right to be the Mennonite representative in the negotiation. This understanding of the Privilegium was demonstrated clearly in 1837, when Tsar Nicholas travelled to the Crimea. Cornies pursued an audience with Nicholas with the expressed purpose of asking the tsar to reconfirm the Privilegium. The governor of Tavrida informed Cornies of the visit, and it was Cornies who assembled a meeting of Molochnaia Mennonites to select a delegation to meet with the tsar. The purpose of the meeting was explicit: it would “present the monarch with a humble submission of thanks from the whole Mennonite brotherhood and … petition him for a confirmation of our privileges.”24 Cornies, along with Elders Bernhard Fast and Wilhelm Lange, made up the delegation. Warkentin, Elder of the community’s largest congregation, was notably excluded. While Cornies courted Russian leaders, Warkentin focused his political efforts closer to home. By 1837 the resistance of individual Mennonites to Agricultural Society orders was beginning to grow and to take on a more organized form. Cornies’ opponents spread rumours about the society and its allies in the Gebietsamt, claiming that they “no longer care about the foundation of their confession of faith and are therefore tyrants, forsaken by God.”’25 Some Mennonite fullholders defied society orders on the grounds that it had no right to tell them how to manage their personal affairs. Cornies responded by denouncing the spreaders of “insults or fabrications,” and threatened that if such malicious lies continued, the perpetrators would be punished.26 It is notable that Warkentin attacked the Gebietsamt as well as Cornies and the Agricultural Society. Cornies had learned from his political failures in the 1820s and had forged an alliance with Gebietsamt leaders. As noted above, the Forestry Society charter excluded members of the Gebietsamt from membership, but when the Guardianship Committee created the Agricultural Society in 1836, Cornies successfully lobbied

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Inzov to have the Gebietsamt’s mayor, Johann Regier, appointed as the society’s deputy director. Regier and Senior Deputy Mayor Abraham Toews were important supporters of Cornies by 1836, an indication that Cornies had begun to challenge Warkentin’s political dominance in the settlement. In 1837 Cornies gained another important political ally, this time of much higher status, a senior state official named Peter Keppen. From the mid-1830s until his death in 1864, Keppen was an important figure in the intellectual and administrative world of Russia. His articles on archaeology and history appeared in leading journals in Russia and abroad. He helped create the Russian Imperial Geographical Society in 1846, and his ethnographic and demographic studies, particularly of the Russian census of 1851, remain important tools for historians today.27 He worked in the Fifth Department and then the Ministry of State Domains, serving as the head of the ministry’s Learned Committee from its foundation in 1838, where he helped collect and publish studies of the Russian peasantry that influenced the Great Reforms of the 1860s. In 1836, probably from his friend Fadeev, Keppen caught wind of the burial mounds that lined the ridge west of the Molochnaia River. Keppen had already been recruited to tour the Crimea with the royal family in 1837, apparently because of his expert knowledge of the region’s history. Excited by the reports of burial mounds in the Molochnaia, Keppen successfully applied to the Academy of Sciences for a research grant for a side trip. He arrived in Halbstadt in November 1837, where Cornies quickly took him in hand.28 Keppen’s notes from his trip to the Molochnaia reveal his keen interest in all of Cornies’ accomplishments. He visited the Iushanle estate and gushed with praise at its arrangements. He visited the model Nogai colony of Akkerman, and he concluded that Cornies had struck upon the key to “civilizing” the Tatar peoples. As for the ancient burial mounds, he provided Cornies with detailed instructions for their excavation and documentation. Keppen also secured Cornies’ cooperation in his most recent official assignment, which was to review state peasant conditions in Tavrida guberniia. By the time Keppen departed the Molochnaia three weeks later, he and Cornies had struck up a firm and lasting friendship.29 It is perhaps this friendship that was the most important – and surprising – result of Keppen’s visit. The St. Petersburg academician and the frontier Mennonite had little in common, yet Keppen’s affection for

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Cornies, and his subsequent loyalty to and promotion of his new friend, ultimately permitted Cornies to have far broader influence than would otherwise have been likely. Cornies made such a strong impression on Keppen that when the latter returned to St. Petersburg in 1838 he recruited Cornies as a corresponding member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, which was charged with “considering matters that required special scholarly attention.”30 For Cornies, Keppen’s arrival could not have come at a better moment, for in 1837 he badly needed a new patron to replace Fadeev. It didn’t hurt that, with the Guardianship Committee in decline, he found his new patron in the increasingly influential Fifth Department. Cornies demonstrated his keen understanding of the importance of such patronage in a December 1837 letter to Fadeev. He reported that he had presented his “heartfelt requests for changes in our administration,” and Keppen, apparently willing to take up the cause, had asked Cornies to lay out the issues in writing. Cornies now asked Fadeev for help, for he “feared that we are not knowledgeable enough about the relationship of the Mennonites to the state and about the views of the state regarding the citizenship of our local Mennonites.” He stressed the importance of preserving Mennonite privileges and asked Fadeev to help define the ways that Mennonites could make themselves “worthy of exceptions from the general principles governing the status of settlers.”31 By the end of 1837 Cornies had marshalled allies at every level of the administration to back his reform plans. Warkentin had no such friends in high places, but he did continue to enjoy support in the Mennonite settlement, and it was there that a key contest was played out in the Gebietsamt elections of 1838. The energy that Cornies and Warkentin invested in these elections serves as a reminder of how important local administrative offices were on the Russian frontier. Regardless of the autocratic authority of the tsar and his officials, in the Molochnaia elected Gebietsamt officials were essential agents of tsarist authority without whom no real reform was possible. The reason the position of Gebietsamt mayor was so important lies in the office’s administrative function. Mayors were not policy-makers, and the elections were consequently not about controlling the creation of policy, which ultimately came from the state. However, a mayor who did not actively carry out state policy could be a huge roadblock. The non-Mennonite peasant villages in the Molochnaia demonstrate this, for there state policies foundered on the lack of active local leadership.

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Cornies described such local peasants as “unenlightened, indolent and attached to tradition … they reject everything new with loathing and prejudice.”32 While peasant agricultural practices were probably more rational than Cornies allowed, there is little doubt of the peasants’ persistent resistance to state reform plans. The tsarist state, with its understaffed and often incompetent bureaucracy, could not provide effective local administration, and village and district mayors offered no substitute. The Mennonites had no desire to become just another bunch of intransigent state peasants. Even their most conservative members, including Warkentin and his supporters, were in agreement that they needed to retain the distinct status granted them under the Privilegium. This is what made the Privilegium so central to Molochnaia politics for all parties. What Warkentin and his supporters failed to recognize, and what Cornies recognized very clearly, was that the Nicholaevan state was increasingly unhappy with exceptions like the ones granted the Mennonites. The entire bureaucratic thrust of Nicholas’ peasant reforms was to impose uniformity. If Mennonites were going to keep their privileges they were going to have to earn them. In this context, it might be fair to say that by the late 1830s Warkentin faced a no-win situation. If his candidate won the Gebietsamt elections he would use the office of mayor to block reforms, making state intervention and a loss of Mennonite privileges likely. If he lost the elections, Cornies would use the office of mayor to impose the reforms. Accounts of the November 1838 elections come mainly from Cornies’ correspondence, so they must be taken with a grain of salt. In April 1838 he told Fadeev that Warkentin was employing “underhanded means” to oust Johann Regier and his senior deputy Abraham Toews, both now stalwart Cornies supporters, and replace them with Warkentin’s “close relative” and loyal supporter, the current Second Deputy Mayor Driedger. This would be a disaster, Cornies warned, “detrimental to all aspects of the community’s well-being.”33 Cornies suggested a simple solution to the problem: he asked Fadeev to use his influence to have the Guardianship Committee cancel the elections and reappoint Regier and Toews for another three years. He assured Fadeev that this move would be supported in the settlement, for Bernhard Fast, Wilhelm Lange, Benjamin Ratzlaf, and Peter Wedel, Elders of the four smaller Mennonite congregations, shared his desire that Regier and Toews retain their posts.34 Fadeev assured Cornies of his support and advised him to take up the matter directly with General

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Inzov.35 Cornies wrote to Inzov in July, telling him that “the firm measures and sense of orderliness of [Regier and Toews] are repugnant to” Warkentin.36 He urged Inzov to cancel the elections and reappoint Regier and Toews for a further three-year term. Warkentin also appealed to Inzov, offering a starkly different version of the situation. He claimed that Regier was an alcoholic who was violating Mennonite beliefs and customs by employing corporal punishment to enforce Cornies’ orders. He insisted that Regier was no longer competent to fill his post and asked Inzov to permit his replacement.37 Whether Warkentin’s accusations were true is difficult to ascertain. There are other accounts that confirm Regier’s excessive drinking, but there is no incontrovertible evidence that it affected his administrative duties.38 Inzov backed Cornies and issued a stern letter to the leaders of the five Molochnaia congregations reminding them of their duties. As Cornies phrased it, “this had a salutary effect on the whole community.”39 Inzov did not cancel the elections, but he did give a strong indication of the results he expected, and in the end the settlement re-elected Regier and Toews with large majorities of the vote.40 With the election over and Cornies’ candidates in office, by the end of 1838 Cornies returned to the aggressive pursuit of his reform agenda. Reforms, 1838–42 The 1838 election victory launched a flurry of activity on every front. Cornies pressed forward with a transformation to market-oriented crop agriculture and experimented with a wide variety of new crops, from flax to tobacco to potatoes. Recognizing the growing problem of landlessness in his community, he also aggressively advocated for a diversification of the Molochnaia economy through the creation of a craftsman’s village beside Halbstadt. At the same time, Cornies expanded his emphasis on education, overseeing the opening of several new schools. Beyond the Molochnaia he promoted the interests of what he called the “Radishchev Mennonites” – the struggling Ukrainian Hutterite community – arranging their move from Radishchev to the Molochnaia. Cornies also became the state’s local watchdog over events in the soon-to-be-exiled Molochnaia Doukhobor and Molokan communities, trying (albeit failing) to act as an intermediary with the state. He continued to work to “civilize” his Nogai neighbours, and at the same time he offered his expert advice to Fadeev on efforts to reform the Kalmyk

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Tatars. Still further afield, he began his long correspondence with the Moravian Brethren community at Sarepta on the Volga River, offering advice and aid for its floundering economy. Land allocation and use remained the central issue for the Agricultural Society. By the end of 1838 the society had issued new, stringent conditions on land transfers, advising fullholders that it would not agree to the transfer of a fullholding unless it is obvious that the owner has planted a considerable number of fruit trees in the orchard according to rules and regulations, and has maintained the orchard so that it is growing well. This also applies to forest-tree plantations. The fullholder’s cultivated fields should be well worked and in good condition. His buildings must be in an orderly state of repair, even if the buildings are small, and cleanliness and order should be observed in and around them at all times. He must pursue potato and flax cultivation to a considerable degree, and his livestock should be properly watched over and kept in good condition. In general, order and diligence must be recognizable in all parts of his fullholding.41

There was an important new component to the society’s regulations: for the first time it explicitly addressed the phenomenon of “half-holdings.” Regulations forbade the subdivision of fullholdings, but demographic pressures and the lack of opportunity to acquire new land meant that Mennonites were finding ways around the rules and creating shared two-family fullholdings. While one family held the formal title to the land, two families, living in two separate houses, shared the labour and the profits. The society seemed unfazed by this obvious violation of the rules; it not only made no effort to prevent the creation of halfholdings but also insisted that both half-holders sign formal contracts to uphold society regulations, thereby legitimizing the practice. Twenty years later, when landlessness became a political crisis in the Mennonite community, half-holdings were offered as one solution, but in fact the practice was in place by the end of 1838. Such shared fullholdings did not provide much of an answer to landlessness, and by 1839 almost 60 per cent of Molochnaia Mennonite families were landless.42 Cornies’ answer to this problem was to promote trades and commerce as alternative employment for the landless. As early as 1828 Cornies had warned of the “shortages produced by a lack of trade,” and in 1833 he urged Fadeev to take into account the close relationship between crafts and trade and the well-being of the

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Mennonite community.43 He frequently made loans to small traders and craftsmen in the settlement, and he constantly promoted the products of agricultural equipment manufacturers to state officials. In 1835 the Forestry Society, already looking far beyond its official role, demanded that each village in the settlement set aside four or five small cottage sites for tradesmen.44 There were already “cottagers” in the settlements – usually agricultural workers who lived in cottages on the home sites of fullholders – but what Cornies now envisioned was permanent craft and trade sites in each village. In 1836 Cornies expanded his vision when he proposed the creation of an entire craftsman’s village beside Halbstadt, the administrative centre of the settlement. The project was slow to gain official support until P.D. Kisilev, the Minister of State Domains, visited the Molochnaia in 1840. After consulting with Keppen, Cornies pitched the idea to Kisilev, who threw his considerable influence behind it. By November 1841 planning and construction were under way, and in the summer of 1842 Neu-Halbstadt sprang into existence. It became the commercial hub of the settlement and ultimately of the entire region.45 Cornies was also centrally involved in supporting the oldest manufacturing enterprise in the Molochnaia, Johann Klassen’s Halbstadt cloth factory. Established in 1818, the factory had always struggled to make a profit, making cloth that was too poor to attract Mennonite buyers and too expensive to market to others in the region. The factory was hard-hit by the Great Drought, which devastated the region’s sheep herds, leading to shortages of wool. To keep afloat, Klassen borrowed heavily, and by 1839 he owed more than 70,000 rubles to various Mennonites, including Cornies. On 1 August 1839, Klassen’s troubles went from bad to worse when a fire destroyed the mill.46 Cornies’ support of the Klassen mill had little to do with business profits – he was well aware that the mill was a marginal venture, and after the fire it was clear that he was unlikely to ever recover his money from Klassen. Apart from his friendship with Klassen, and Klassen’s reciprocal support in settlement politics, Cornies supported the mill for two reasons. First, it was evidence of the settlement’s achievements as a model community, something to be shown with pride to visitors who toured the Molochnaia. Second, the factory employed landless Mennonites, who were an increasing concern for Cornies by the late 1830s. In 1836 it employed about sixty people directly and more than two hundred people indirectly, including suppliers and carters.47

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Cornies viewed craftsmen as vital servants to the Molochnaia agricultural economy, but as always, agriculture remained his central concern. Cornies had made his money raising sheep, but by the late 1830s he saw crop agriculture as the future. The harsh winter of 1825 and the Great Drought of 1833–34 had decimated livestock in the region, and Cornies regarded crop agriculture as a more reliable source of income. He was also keenly aware of international markets, on which wool prices were falling as a consequence of rising production in Australia, New Zealand, and North America. A third concern was the growing population in New Russia, which was making pasture land scarcer and more expensive. None of this meant that Cornies himself was getting out of the sheep business – he owned thousands of desiatinas of land that were suited for little besides pasturage, and his wealth meant that he could comfortably withstand shifting markets and bad weather. However, he recognized that for most Mennonite fullholders, who owned just sixty-five desiatinas of land, grain was a better economic bet. A key factor in this conclusion was the opening of a port at nearby Berdiansk in 1836. Before 1836 the nearest port was in the Crimea, much too far away to permit profitable exports of grain; by comparison, wool was cheap and easy to transport to distant markets, as Cornies had proven with his annual shipment of wool to Traugott Blueher in Moscow. After the Berdiansk port opened, grain-growing rapidly came to dominate Mennonite agricultural activities.48 Commercial grain-growing demanded new methods and new discipline, and the Agricultural Society was ready and willing to provide both. That society’s most significant innovation – and perhaps its single most significant contribution to Mennonite economic development – was the introduction of a four-field crop rotation. As long as crop agriculture was a secondary concern in the Molochnaia, fullholders either used a three-field system or simply planted a single field until production tapered off and then moved to a different section of land and started over. In a semi-arid region like the Molochnaia, this approach meant minimal effort but also low yields. The four-field system allowed three-quarters of a fullholder’s arable land to be cropped each year. This ensured that the entire arable area retained adequate moisture and nutrients to ensure sustainable commercial agriculture. Combined with new technologies it led to rapid increases in agricultural production.49 As a result of these reforms, by 1842 the Molochnaia Mennonites had become some of the most productive farmers in the empire. A secondary benefit was that the sale and transportation of grain provided jobs.

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Nogais became the main grain haulers, but Mennonite merchants were probably the most significant beneficiaries.50 In August 1838 several Molochnaia Mennonite families built homes and warehouses in Berdiansk, where they became grain merchants. Abram Wiebe of Rudenerweide emerged as the leading Berdiansk merchant; he borrowed large sums from Cornies to buy community wheat, which he then exported through Brediansk.51 Wiebe soon established a trading firm that supplied the Molochnaia Mennonite community with luxuries from abroad and that exported Mennonite wool as well as grain directly to international markets.52 As head of the Agricultural Society, Cornies took on the task of experimenting with a wide variety of new crops at his Iushanle estate. In close consultation with Christian Steven, the famous Crimean agronomist who acted as the Ministry of State Domains’ main agricultural expert in the region, Cornies experimented with British wheat, Turkish tobacco, Crimean barley, and countless other crops. The most important was potatoes. In the wake of the Great Drought of 1833, the state began promoting potatoes as a miracle crop that might prevent future subsistence crises. Cornies became a leading figure in the project, planting potatoes himself, demanding that other Mennonites do likewise, and offering advice on the results. Mennonites already grew potatoes, though only in their kitchen gardens. In 1838 Cornies added the requirement to grow “a considerable number of potatoes” to the standard contract for purchasing a fullholding.53 The promotion of potatoes is a good example of how the Ministry of State Domains was eclipsing the Guardianship Committee’s influence in the Molochnaia. As the ministry ramped up potato production in 1840, Georg von Bradke, director of the ministry’s Third Department, wrote Cornies directly, calling upon him as a member of the Learned Committee to help develop the program. Bradke visited the Molochnaia in June 1840 and had a clear sense of the Mennonites’ accomplishments.54 He wanted very specific information – for example, how much land and how many seed potatoes were needed to feed a peasant family of four? Cornies’ response to his queries suggests why his importance to the ministry was increasing. He carefully answered Bradke about local conditions and went on to provide a detailed description of potato cultivation in Prussia, demonstrating a broad expertise and justifying his growing reputation as an agricultural expert.55 The Agricultural Society was formally a Mennonite institution, but Cornies’ role as its chairman and his separate role as corresponding

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member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains intersected, and he made little distinction between the two. For the Learned Committee he experimented with agricultural methods and crops, using his Iushanle estate as a semi-official experimental farm; in addition, the headquarters of the Agricultural Society were at Iushanle, and he used the society’s authority to demand that Mennonites adopt crops and methods tested at Iushanle for the ministry. This intersection of activities and authority reinforced Cornies’ power within his community; it also had a second significant consequence – it engaged Cornies in affairs well beyond the Molochnaia Mennonite settlement. Cornies’ first major involvement beyond the Molochnaia came at Fadeev’s urging. In 1837 the Fifth Department ordered Fadeev to conduct a general survey of peasant conditions in the Caucasus, Astrakhan Guberniia, and the Moravian Brethren settlement at Sarepta on the Volga River. Fadeev asked Cornies to accompany him, and particularly to provide expert insights about the Kalmyk Horde based on his work with the Nogais. Cornies left home at the end of June 1837 and spent the next six weeks travelling with Fadeev, concluding his travels at Sarepta. This was Cornies’ friend Traugott Blueher’s home town, and Cornies’ children had visited there the previous summer. Fadeev hoped that Cornies could help the struggling community reverse its decline, and he urged Cornies to establish a sheep farm in the region and even to explore the possibility of transplanting a Mennonite village there. Cornies at first looked on the prospect positively, and he suggested to his brother Heinrich that he move to Sarepta to manage the proposed farm.56 The possibility of establishing a Mennonite colony on leased Kalmyk land near Sarepta was already on Cornies’ mind in 1837. In the 1840s the rising tide of landlessness in the New Russian Mennonite settlements led to the idea of creating “daughter colonies” as offshoots of the original “mother colonies.” Fadeev wanted model colonists to show the Moravian Brethren how to make the best use of their land, but as Cornies wrote to his friend Johann Wiebe, his personal objective was “to assess whether it might eventually be of use to our brethren in faith.”57 Cornies found Sarepta peaceful and friendly, but while he thought the Moravian Brethren community itself might have suitable land for raising sheep, he saw few prospects for the surrounding Kalmyk land, which he concluded was too arid to support large-scale sheepraising. Consequently he gave up on his plan to lease nearby land; he

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did, however, promise to provide the Sarepta community with advice on establishing small private herds.58 As soon as he returned to the Molochnaia he opened a correspondence with Daniel Doehring in Sarepta about arranging the sale of merino sheep, and in 1838 he oversaw the selection, purchase, and delivery of breeding stock from his own herds to the Moravian Brethren.59 He also actively pursued other ways to help out Sarepta, offering advice on all aspects of agriculture, and in 1839 he hosted a delegation that came to see how the Molochnaia Mennonites managed their affairs.60 For Cornies the 1837 inspection trip with Fadeev was an important step outward into the tsarist administrative world. Returning home, he entangled himself in other state projects beyond the Mennonite settlement. He provided expert advice on potatoes, and he soon took charge of regional efforts to promote potato growing in Slavic peasant villages, hiring Mennonites to supervise potato-planting throughout the region.61 He also now accepted the task of training Slavic and Nogai peasants as agricultural apprentices at Iushanle.62 The apprenticeship program demonstrates the Ministry of State Domains’ efforts to activate the Mennonite model as a tool for reforming the state peasants. Cornies had always hired apprentices for his establishments, and a number of his long-term employees on his sheep farms and orchards served three-year apprenticeships before being promoted to more responsible positions. At Fadeev’s request, in 1835 Cornies had also taken on two apprentices from the Mariupol district, but this informal first stab at a regional training program never went any further.63 Then, in December 1838, the Ministry of State Domains asked him to train peasants at Iushanle. The plan was not just to provide basic agricultural skills; the apprentices were to learn to read and write and do basic math so that they could eventually provide training to other peasants in their own villages.64 This was a way to extend the modelling of progressive policies down to the lowest levels of society. Cornies responded to the ministry’s request in his typically thorough, practical manner. Yes, he would take on sixteen apprentices, but there were limits to what he could do for them. Most importantly, he had neither the facilities nor the personnel to offer formal schooling. Iushanle was too far from Ohrloff to send the apprentices to school there, and at any rate the Ohrloff school was for Mennonites. Clearly the language of instruction would have to be Russian, and the Mennonite settlement could not spare any of its Russian speakers for the task, because they were too important to settlement interests.65

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The apprenticeship program became a tremendous nuisance to Cornies, for while he received a handful of very good apprentices and did his best to provide them with training, many of the peasants sent to him were far from satisfactory. Cornies’ reports and complaints about the apprentices hint at the challenges the Russian state faced in its efforts to improve peasant agriculture. Villages sent Cornies children too young to work, and he sent them back again. They sent him alcoholics and criminals, apparently seeing the apprenticeship program as an opportunity to rid themselves of troublemakers, and he sent these ones back too. District officials failed to explain the program to peasants, and rumours spread that the apprentices would “be sent abroad and never see their families again.”66 At first Cornies offered explanations when he rejected apprentices, but soon he just sent them home without comment, for as he told Steven, the qualifications for prospective apprentices were clearly laid out in Cornies’ original agreement, and the regional offices could read them for themselves.67 Cornies’ multitudinous activities by the early 1840s have an ad hoc character; administrative officials in Odessa, Simferopol, and St. Petersburg bombarded him with requests for advice, and he did his best to help all of them. Yet underlying all of this was a clear vision for the development of the Mennonite settlement and its role within the empire. Cornies had long insisted that Mennonites serve the role of model, and the dimensions of the modelling project were growing ever clearer. Mennonites were to be the standard-bearers of modern economic practices, from systematic field rotations, to mechanized agricultural implements, to trade and industry. The Warkentin Affair, 1841–42 The “Warkentin affair” is the label commonly applied to the religious and political upheaval in the Molochnaia Mennonite settlement in the first half of the 1840s. As Cornies’ power and activities grew, Warkentin’s opposition likewise grew. The outcome of the 1837 elections – a clear victory for Cornies’ candidate Johann Regier – suggests a shift in the balance of power within the settlement. While Cornies’ political power was partly based on the state’s direct intervention, there are grounds for believing that he also enjoyed significant community support. After all, his reforms ushered in a period of great prosperity for many Mennonite fullholders, and while colourful accounts of the resistance of some fullholders dominate the conventional historical narrative, Cornies’

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candidate won the 1837 election and – as described below – only narrowly lost the 1841 election. The Mennonites, described so consistently in outside reports as sober and industrious, were, in terms of their agricultural practices, progressives. If they did not like Cornies’ manner (and many did not), they surely liked his results. An anonymous observer, writing in the Journal of the Ministry of State Domains of his visit to the Molochnaia settlement in 1839, recorded that “many Mennonites say that, although the impositions of the administration are sometimes painful to them, they feel that without them, many of them would have fallen into disorder.”68 The creation of the Agricultural Society led to increased tensions between Cornies and Warkentin, but by itself this does not account for the ferocity of the central events of the Warkentin affair. Mennonite fullholders were conservative, but for the most part they were not reactionary, and by the end of the 1830s many were slowly accepting that the model could change.69 Every published account of the Warkentin affair agrees that Warkentin’s opposition to Cornies centred on the contention that Cornies was impinging on congregational authority; it was a conflict between “civil and ecclesiastical authority,” to use Heinrich Goerz’s influential description. Heinrich Neufeld, a deacon (Praediger) in the Large Flemish Congregation and close ally of Warkentin, authored the most important account of the conflict, and he was careful to distinguish between religious authority and economic reforms. He insisted that Warkentin was “among the first at all times to fulfil the regulations regarding plantings which the [Agricultural Society] prescribed,” asserting that the opposition to Cornies was not opposition to state policy.70 The real issue, Neufeld insisted, was that “Warkentin wanted to preserve our Mennonite ecclesiastical regulations as they had been hitherto, which, however, Cornies could not endure.”71 Conflict between secular and religious authority was clearly a central issue as the political battle unfolded in 1840–41, but the dispute also had a significant dimension solely within the religious realm. After all, the tensions between Cornies and Warkentin originated in the 1820s with the creation of the Christian School Society and the Molochnaia branch of the Russian Bible Society. At that time it was clearly a conflict between Mennonite quietism and pietism. Neither Neufeld nor Wiens mentioned these religious disputes in their accounts of the Warkentin Affair, but Cornies put them front-and-centre. He began his 1842 summary of the conflict by writing that “the discontent and resulting disorder that has prevailed in our community since March of this year

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originated twenty years ago.” He went on to insist that Warkentin’s opposition was “not only to reforms but to other developments as well.” The “other developments” were implicitly religious, and Cornies was not hesitant to respond to Warkentin’s attack on religious grounds, insisting that “Warkentin’s basic beliefs are contrary both to the Bible and to Mennonite beliefs.”72 Cornies had become less vocal about his religious beliefs after his 1827 trip to Saxony, but he never abandoned them. In his 1841 description of the Mennonite administrative system, he credited the Agricultural Society with spreading “the values of morality, decency, diligence and thrift,” thus blending moral and economic reform without any thought that they could be separated.73 His correspondence and reports, dating back to the terrible winter of 1825, had always characterized economic modernization as a moral obligation born of religious belief. If Warkentin labelled such reforms secular, to Cornies they clearly were not. Education had always been a flashpoint in the tensions between Cornies and Warkentin, and this helps account for why the conflict intensified in the late 1830s. In January 1837 Cornies proudly bragged about “measures to advance morality” brought about by improving the schools “through the hiring of better school teachers.”74 By that year there were three secondary schools in the settlement, the original one in Ohrloff, a second in Halbstadt, and a third in Steinbach, and planning was under way to open a fourth in Gnadenfeld. The Halbstadt school provided practical training for secretaries and bookkeepers; the other three, which taught religion, German, Russian, history, geography, arithmetic, and drawing, were intended to train schoolteachers for the village elementary schools. The relationship between secondary education and pietism that was central in the 1820s remained key in the 1830s and 1840s. Particularly controversial from Warkentin’s perspective was the new school in Gnadenfeld. The village of Gnadenfeld was itself new, founded by pietist immigrants from Prussia in 1835. Friedrich Wilhelm Lange, the nephew of Gnadenfeld congregational elder Wilhelm Lange, was the first teacher at the Gnadenfeld school, and he would succeed his uncle as the congregation’s Elder when Wilhelm died in 1841. F.W. Lange was a noted pietist minister and, in the 1840s, a close friend of the famous evangelical Lutheran minister Eduard Wüst.75 In their description of the purpose of their new school, the Gnadenfelders provided a good summary of exactly what it was that Warkentin and his supporters feared: they intended “to mold [pupils] for life here

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on earth and especially for the kingdom of God.”76 The Gnadenfelders insisted that they have a school in their own village in part because, if the students went to school in Steinbach, they would have to board there as well and would not have the chance to attend the Gnadenfeld Church. At the Steinbach Church they could only hear a sermon read from the pulpit, which, as they explained in explicitly pietist terms, “could never replace the living warmth and freshness of words from a believing heart” that they would hear in Gnadenfeld.77 Cornies and the Agricultural Society played the leading role in expanding secondary schooling in the late 1830s. Gnadenfeld leaders consulted with the society before establishing their school, seeking the society’s advice and approval, and the society took an active role in finding and vetting teachers for all of the secondary schools. Such schools, by providing teachers for all of the settlement’s elementary schools, were a way for pietists – as well as economic reformers – to spread their influence widely. Little wonder that they contributed to rising tensions in the settlement. A final important contributor to those rising tensions seems to fit oddly among the agricultural and educational reforms that had an obvious impact on the conservatives. In his account of the Warkentin affair, Cornies wrote that Warkentin and his supporters “were particularly offended by the new, attractive and more appropriate building style using fired brick for houses and barns. This style was strongly supported by the Society because it gave our villages a more cheerful and beautiful appearance.”78 Cornies had begun constructing brick buildings at his Iushanle and Taschenak estates in 1838, and by 1842 the Agricultural Society had mandated brick for all new construction in the settlement.79 There were economic justifications for this regulation: it helped prevent fires, and it provided jobs for the landless, both through the manufacture of bricks and the labour-intensive work of bricklaying. But as Cornies made clear in 1842, bricks were first and foremost about aesthetics and morality. If Cornies understood brick construction as an aesthetic matter, the Warkentin affair reveals that Molochnaia conservatives shared his understanding. Opposition to ostentation in clothing and buildings was a deeply rooted element of Mennonite religious belief, and Cornies’ aim to beautify the Molochnaia by building in brick was controversial on these grounds alone. For Cornies, brick buildings were part of a larger aesthetic of order and morality; for Warkentin, bricks were an unacceptable extension of Cornies’ reordering of the world. Warkentin insisted

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that the Mennonite model remain static, for he and other conservatives understood the Mennonite way of life as a survival of the primitive Christian community and as a model of God’s kingdom on earth. This is why, among the economic reforms and political causes that Cornies championed in the late 1830s, his aesthetic reforms emerged as a key conservative concern. In the late summer of 1840, Johann Klassen, Warkentin’s nephew and mayor of the village of Muensterberg, refused to obey Agricultural Society orders to build his new home from bricks, urging other fullholders in the village to follow his example.80 When the Gebietsamt sentenced Klassen to five days’ punishment labour in the settlement tree nursery, Klassen complained to Warkentin, who concluded that Klassen had done nothing wrong and appealed the Gebietsamt’s order, in the meantime telling his nephew not to carry out the sentence until the appeal was resolved. Khariton Pelekh, a Colonial Inspector for the Guardianship Committee, heard the appeal and confirmed the sentence – indeed, he ordered that Klassen serve an additional two days of labour for failing to comply with the original sentence.81 In the final analysis, Warkentin was arguing that only the Mennonite religious establishment had the authority to punish Klassen. According to Pelekh, the Muensterberg Village Office refused to carry out his orders on the grounds that, “according to the Mennonite faith, one brother cannot punish another. When someone transgresses, he must be reported to the spiritual leadership. It will then, before [further] steps are taken, consult [with the civil authority] about the reprimand and instruction to be given the offender.”82 The implication of Warkentin’s position was that if a Mennonite refused to carry out reforms ordered by the Agricultural Society, and if Warkentin or any other Mennonite congregational Elder concluded that the orders were not justified, the state would have no legitimate means to enforce them. This would leave the entire reform program subject to the authority of the religious establishment, and because Warkentin was the Elder of the congregation to which the majority of Mennonite fullholders belonged, in practice he would gain final say on all state reforms. Such an outcome was clearly unacceptable to the state. In the midst of these tensions, in the summer of 1841 the Mennonites learned that a plan was being floated to dissolve the Guardianship Committee. If this occurred, Mennonite affairs would be placed under the direct authority of the Ministry of State Domains. In August, Baron von Rosen, head of the guberniia’s Ministry of State Domains office,

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summoned Cornies to Simferopol to discuss the plan, which had enormous implications for Molochnaia politics. Both the Mennonite Privilegium and the Guardianship Committee had emerged out of a Ministry of Internal Affairs survey of New Russia in 1797–98, and most Mennonites saw the committee as an agency that not only regulated but also protected them. The Privilegium had been issued by the tsar, but it was the Guardianship Committee that implemented it. Few Mennonites had any direct contact with the ministry, while all had met representatives of the Guardianship Committee, if only in the person of Pelekh, its lowly District Colonial Inspector. The Ministry of State Domains was well outside the experience of most Mennonites, with the singular exception of Cornies. In 1841 Cornies hosted the minister himself, P.D. Kisilev, at Iushanle, and he was close friends with the high-ranking Keppen. Kisilev’s 1841 visit was particularly ominous for Warkentin, for it was then that the minister commissioned Cornies to write a detailed description of the Mennonite administrative system. In November 1841, Cornies wrote a letter to Fadeev describing Kisilev’s visit and the report the minister had requested, and went on to say that “Baron v. Rosen would like to ensure that the progress made by the Molochnaia villages in their economic arrangements might not be disturbed by this transfer in any way. We are happy that we will soon receive a constitution that will permit the best and highest degree of development of our economic arrangements.”83 Cornies made no mention of how this “constitution” would relate to the Privilegium, but there was every reason for Warkentin to fear that Cornies was further cementing his control of the settlement. Fadeev replied to Cornies that he thought the Guardianship Committee would survive and informed him that Evgenii von Hahn had been appointed the new deputy director to the aging and increasingly ineffective Director Inzov.84 In 1842 Hahn would play a dramatic role in the resolution of the Warkentin affair. In the midst of all this, in the fall of 1841 the Molochnaia settlement held its regularly scheduled district and village elections.85 As in 1837, Warkentin attempted to use the elections to reassert his own authority. His candidate was Peter Toews from the village of Tiege, who was almost sixty – elderly by the standards of his time. Despite the bitter political atmosphere, Cornies never directly criticized him; the worst he would say was that some Mennonites supported Toews in the elections because they had little understanding of the administrative demands of the job and only cared to elect “quiet, pious and righteous persons.”86

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Cornies’ correspondence provides the few details we possess about the 1841 elections. Regier was terminally ill and did not stand for reelection.87 The candidate whom Cornies supported to replace Regier was Jacob Penner, former mayor of the Khortitisa Settlement and former chairman of the Khortitsa Agricultural Society. Cornies and Penner were old friends, and Penner had accompanied Cornies on his trip to Saxony in 1827 where he bought sheep for the Khortitsa settlement’s communal herd. The third candidate was the Halbstadt mayor, David Friesen, a moderate figure who maintained good relations with both Cornies and Warkentin. Cornies opposed his candidacy on the grounds that he was inexperienced. Warkentin’s opposition to Cornies centred on the punishment of Johann Klassen a year earlier. He argued that Cornies was using the Gebietsamt’s secular authority to punish Mennonite offences that properly fell under the authority of the congregation’s Elders, and he claimed that the Privilegium, in granting Mennonites religious freedoms, implicitly recognized the Elders’ authority to adjudicate internal matters. His solution was to ensure that the office of Gebietsamt mayor was filled by someone who acknowledged congregational authority. According to Cornies, in the run-up to the elections Dirk Thun, mayor of Fuerstenwerder village and one of his fiercest critics, “was so unscrupulous that he allowed himself to be used for Warkentin’s purposes. Travelling through our villages spreading this delusion on the pretext that his journey was intended to unite the congregations, this village mayor tried to criticize the actions of members of the District Office and to arouse hatred against them.”88 Warkentin also looked for support to the powerful leader of the Flemish congregation in Khortitisa, Jacob Dyck.89 He and Warkentin were friends and allies, and as the senior Flemish Elder among the Russian Mennonites he had substantial influence. Warkentin probably saw him as a useful counter to Penner. Unlike in the 1837 elections, there is no record that Cornies tried to invoke Guardianship Committee influence to affect the outcome of this election; indeed, given the weakness of the committee (Hahn had not yet arrived), it did not have much influence to offer. When the dust settled, Peter Toews had won the 1841 election with just 395 votes.90 Jacob Penner came second, and David Friesen third, but neither their vote totals nor the total number of votes cast in the election are recorded. There were 1037 fullholdings in the settlement that year, so Toews had won roughly 40 per cent of the votes, hardly an overwhelming show of support for Warkentin.91

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Introduction

For Cornies, the election of Toews was unacceptable, and he asserted his authority as Agricultural Society chairman to refuse to ratify the vote. Toews should have taken office on 1 January 1842, but on 17 December the Guardianship Committee took Cornies’ advice and blocked Toews’ appointment “because his advanced age makes it impossible for him to discharge the responsibilities of this office adequately.”92 At the same time, the committee refused to appoint Penner, Cornies’ candidate, declaring that he was ineligible for the office because he was still registered as a Khortitsa resident. The committee left the position of Gebietsamt mayor in limbo awaiting a “special decision” at an unspecified future date. Cornies and the other members of the Agricultural Society met with Pelekh on 5 January to discuss their options. The Guardianship Committee apparently favoured appointing the third-place candidate David Friesen, but Cornies objected that Friesen, the newly elected mayor of Halbstadt, had just a few days of administrative experience (he had taken up his new office on 1 January) and was too young and inexperienced to run the Gebietsamt. This may have been an honest appraisal – relations between Cornies and Friesen were good – but it also reflected Cornies’ desire to have his own man in office. Cornies recommended that Abraham Toews serve as interim mayor until a final decision came from the committee. If Toews served as mayor, someone would have to fill his role as deputy mayor, and Cornies’ recommendation suggests some effort to mend fences with Warkentin: he proposed Johann Neufeld. Neufeld owned the brewery in Halbstadt and was also the settlement’s principle currency exchanger, a vital role in the regional economy. As a member of the merchant elite he had good relations with Cornies. He was also the brother of Heinrich Neufeld, a deacon in Warkentin’s congregation.93 While Pelekh and Cornies discussed strategies, in late January Warkentin assembled a conference of congregational Elders and village ministers in the village of Margenau. Cornies later claimed that this conference was held in secret and that apart from the four Elders, Warkentin invited only a small and unrepresentative group of his own supporters.94 The sole record of what was said at the conference comes from Cornies’ denunciation of it, and this must be treated with scepticism, but clearly Warkentin was trying to rally the support of the settlement’s entire religious leadership to support the appointment of Peter Toews as the duly elected mayor. According to Cornies, the conference also sought to reassert congregational authority over community

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discipline, the key issue in the elections. He suggested that Warkentin’s goal was to assert the right of congregational Elders to discipline members of their own congregation, a clear reference to the Johann Klassen case from the previous year. According to both Cornies and Neufeld, Warkentin found surprising support both from the Frisian congregation’s Peter Wedel and from Wilhelm Franke, the Gnadenfeld congregational Elder.95 Only Bernhard Fast, Elder of the Old Flemish Congregation and long-time Cornies ally, opposed Warkentin. On 2 February, armed with this support, Warkentin, accompanied by Johann Klassen, set out for Odessa to seek an audience with Evgeny von Hahn. Hahn, in office for only a month and still acclimating himself to his role as Deputy Director of the Guardianship Committee, was an unknown quantity to the Mennonites, and the politically savvy Warkentin was making sure he got to Hahn first. Cornies’ reaction to the Margenau conference is the first sign that he was really rattled by the Warkentin opposition. Until this point he seemed to believe he had the situation under control. After all, he enjoyed the support of Pelekh, the Colonial Inspector, Rosen, the civil governor of Tavrida, Kisilev, the Minister of State Domains, and the still-influential Fadeev. His candidate Penner had not won the election, but Peter Toews had only won a small plurality and there was every reason for Cornies to suppose he could manipulate the results of this election just as he had manipulated the results of the 1837 election. When Cornies got wind of the Margenau conference he sent a furious letter to Bernhard Fast, co-signed by Gerhard Enns and Jacob Martens, members of the Agricultural Society, and by fifty-two other members of the Old Flemish Congregation. The letter denounced the congregational Elders who had attended the Margenau conference for promoting “disobedience against state directives.” It framed Warkentin’s position in dangerous terms, as “rebelling against our authorities,” actions that could only “deserve punishment by the government.” Mennonites of Cornies’ and Warkentin’s generation had seen two rebellions against tsarist authority – the Decembrist Revolt of 1825 and the Polish Rebellion of 1830 – and they well knew how harshly the rebels had been punished. While it may seem far-fetched to suppose that Cornies saw Warkentin’s opposition in such dire terms, he certainly feared that the state’s response could gravely harm Mennonite interests. Cornies and his supporters carefully distanced themselves from this putative rebellion: “We declare and give our holy assurance that, according to our voluntarily-given solemn confession of faith, we not only love our

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Introduction

authorities, treasure them highly and strive to follow their directives punctually, but pray for them, that God might keep them and arm them with wisdom and understanding. This would enable us to stand under the authorities’ protection and leadership, lead us to peaceful and quiet lives lived in piety and honesty and demonstrate through our work and words that they have not wasted their efforts on those who are unworthy of this favour.”96 In this critically important letter, Cornies for the first time framed his own position in the political crisis in explicitly religious terms. He wrote that Warkentin and his supporters, by promoting disobedience to “our legal authorities” and blocking economic reforms that were intended to promote “the country’s welfare and the community’s success,” were turning “God’s blessings away from us, [keeping] the land from producing its fruits and [causing] our livestock to die of hunger.”97 This echoes a recurring theme in all of Cornies’ justifications of his own reforming role in the settlement: as he had written during the agricultural crises in 1825 and 1833, God used hardships to promote change. By corollary, God would punish the failure to change with hardships. Cornies urged Fast to circulate this letter to the other Elders; this injected it into the growing political crisis. He undoubtedly hoped that other Mennonites would come to their senses and abandon the “rebellion,” but the letter had exactly the opposite effect. Cornies had always maintained that his reforms were a legitimate expression of state authority over the Mennonites’ secular economic role as a model colony, and he accused Warkentin of attempting to extend his religious authority into secular matters. Warkentin acknowledged a legitimate role for secular authority, but he also argued that where Mennonites found themselves in disputes with one another about how secular authority was exercised, the congregational Elders needed to be the court of last resort, and he claimed that Cornies’ assertion of the authority of the Agricultural Society to punish recalcitrant fullholders violated the religious rights of the Mennonites by bypassing ministerial authority.98 Since 1836 Cornies had been winning the political battle in the Molochnaia; most Mennonite fullholders were benefiting economically from the reforms, and in the 1841 elections Warkentin was unable to rally a majority even within his own congregation to oppose Cornies. But in this January 1841 letter, Cornies accepted Warkentin’s terms of debate. By characterizing his reforms, and implicitly his own authority, as an expression of God’s

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will and not of the tsarist state’s secular will, he was accepting that the reforms themselves were not the core issue: the key was God’s will, and that meant that the Elders, not Cornies, should have the final say. Cornies implicitly if unintentionally acknowledged this by asking Fast, his congregational Elder, to take up the cause. By accepting religion as the issue, Cornies was opening the door to a political disaster. For all of his successes in the 1830s, he now found himself facing a potential political defeat even more serious than the one he suffered in 1826. In a sense, it was Warkentin who offered Cornies a way out of this conundrum. Even as Cornies was acquiescing to religious authority, Warkentin, backed by all but the Old Flemish Congregation, set off for Odessa on 2 February to make his case to Hahn. By invoking Hahn’s authority he acknowledged secular authority even as Cornies acknowledged congregational authority. He also forced Cornies (who needed no forcing) to respond, and in the arena of Guardianship Committee politics, unlike in Mennonite religious politics, Cornies had the upper hand. Hahn had not yet visited the Molochnaia, nor had he had any communication with Cornies. He undoubtedly had been briefed on the Mennonites and their key role in New Russian development, but his initial fumbling of Mennonite affairs suggests that he was not well briefed. Inzov, old, infirm, and inactive, had allowed Guardianship Committee affairs to drift aimlessly for years, and the expectation that the committee was about to be absorbed into the Ministry of State Domains added to the malaise. Hahn’s appointment accompanied the decision to retain the Guardianship Committee and along with it the special status of the colonists. Young, smart, and energetic, Hahn was sent to Odessa to straighten out the mess and get the New Russian colonial experiment back on its feet. He was Inzov’s deputy in name only; in practice he now oversaw all Guardianship Committee affairs. According to Heinrich Neufeld, Warkentin received a cordial reception from Hahn. However, Hahn did not agree to Warkentin’s request that Peter Toews, as winner of the elections, be appointed Gebietsamt mayor. In December, before Hahn’s arrival, Inzov had ruled that Toews was too old and infirm to fill the office, and the newly arrived Hahn did not choose to overrule the general. Instead, by 27 January he had already sent an order to Pelekh to conduct new elections. Inzov apparently told Warkentin he would accept the results of the new election, even if Peter Toews was again the winner.99

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Pelekh informed Cornies of the decision to hold new elections, and on 7 February Cornies, who was well aware that Warkentin was already in Odessa waiting to meet with Hahn in person, sent a letter to Hahn laying out the Agricultural Society’s case. Cornies told Hahn that “everyone to whom the well-being of the community is not a matter of indifference has heard of this decision [to hold a new election] with great astonishment,” and he urged Hahn to reconsider. Cornies cautioned Hahn that it was “an open question” who might win such an election, and he offered Hahn his own highly biased introduction to the Molochnaia Mennonite situation: The [Agricultural Society] has been assigned the obligation of functioning as the principal means of promoting our well-being and morality. Through its regulations, the Society reaches into every branch of agriculture and even into home and family life. The head of this office must discuss many subjects with the Gebietsamt Chairman and reach conclusions that ensure a united voice that would help to achieve our goals. The promotion of the community’s well-being must be unambiguous. It must be established step-by-step, with continuity and permanence and without disruption. A Gebietsamt chairman must be serious, understanding, and loving. He must feel a sense of duty and have the community’s well-being more at heart than even his own. He must feel a sense for order and justice and take pleasure in both.

Cornies avoided directly attacking Warkentin and said that the community might not elect the right type of mayor because most Mennonites were naive, simple religious folk, who would “try to elect quiet, pious and righteous persons to these offices. In such an election, many think little … about … whether such persons have any desire, inclination or ability to promote everything that is in the best interests of the community, and if they show the requisite prudence and zeal to establish it for succeeding generations.”100 Cornies was attempting to strike a delicate balance in this letter. He knew better than anyone that Mennonites owed their privileges to their conduct as model colonists. He likewise knew that the state had no patience for schisms within its religious confessions – it expected the Mennonites to act as the state’s agents, and it did not want to have to deal with an internally divided community. By admitting that the community was divided, he was exposing the Mennonites to the possibility that they might lose their privileges. Rather than characterizing

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the divide as a fundamental political split, he instead argued that Mennonites, like all peasants, needed good leadership. Yet even this seemed to challenge the premise of the model colony: if the key was good leadership, then how were the Mennonites any different from any other peasant community? And Cornies also faced a second serious problem: Hahn, parachuted in from St. Petersburg and unfamiliar with the New Russian scene, needed to get a grip on Mennonite affairs. If – as Cornies seemed to admit – the majority of Mennonites backed Warkentin, then the quickest resolution to the problem was for him as well to back Warkentin. Cornies repeated his recommendation that Abraham Toews be appointed interim mayor and Johannes Neufeld interim deputy mayor. He dropped his earlier suggestion that Penner be appointed mayor as soon as his residency status permitted it and instead suggested that, after a few months, if Toews and Neufeld proved competent, their appointments could be made permanent. Hahn rejected these recommendations, and the new election was scheduled for early May.101 Regier officially remained in office, but only very briefly, for he died on 26 February.102 From then until the elections, Abraham Toews was interim mayor. He was Cornies’ candidate in the May election, undoubtedly the most contentious election ever staged in the Molochnaia under tsarist rule. Cornies’ February letter denouncing his opponents as rebels circulated throughout the settlement and helped Warkentin build his case against Cornies; by the end of April there was little doubt that his candidate, Peter Toews, would win the election. In late April Hahn paid his first visit to the Molochnaia. While there is no record of his reaction to the tense situation he encountered, immediately following his visit Cornies took a remarkable and uncharacteristic step: he issued a public, written apology to Warkentin for the February letter in an apparent attempt to put an end to the dispute.103 It seems certain that Hahn played a role in Cornies’ decision to issue this apology. After all, Hahn had a strong interest in restoring order, not least to prove to his bosses in St. Petersburg that it had been no mistake to assign him to his new Guardianship Committee post. If Hahn thought Cornies’ apology would resolve the crisis, he was sorely mistaken. Warkentin took it as a sign of victory and altogether rejected Cornies’ attempt at peacemaking. Indeed, he spread a false rumour that the Guardianship Committee had turned against Cornies and planned to exile him to Siberia. The election resulted in a definitive victory for Warkentin, with Peter Toews receiving 837 votes.104

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Hahn returned to the Molochnaia two weeks later, where he showed decisively that Warkentin had misread the political situation. Presiding from the Gebietsamt building in Halbstadt, Hahn threw out the election results and, in a move that shocked the entire settlement, dissolved the Large Flemish Congregation, ordering Cornies to oversee the creation of three smaller congregations in its place.105 He forbade Warkentin from playing any official role in the new congregations. The controversies surrounding this resolution of the Warkentin affair would ripple through the Molochnaia settlement for years to come. Dirk Thun, the mayor of Muensterberg, continued to campaign against Cornies until, during a return visit in September, Hahn ordered him flogged. Such aftershocks left deep scars in the settlement, but in practice, by the end of May 1842 Warkentin’s role in Molochnaia politics was ended and Cornies reigned supreme. Conclusion Volume Two of Transformation on the Southern Ukrainian Steppe covers a critically important period of reform and conflict. Cornies was the agent of reform and the fulcrum of conflict in the Molochnaia Mennonite settlement, and his correspondence and studies shed new light on the larger story of the tsarist empire under Nicholas I. Historians have mainly represented Nicholas’ peasant reform programs as significant only for the training and knowledge they imparted to the bureaucratic engineers of Alexander II’s Great Reforms in the 1860s. The experience of the Molochnaia Mennonites suggests that the creation of the Fifth Department and then the Ministry of State Domains had direct consequences already in the 1830s. In an empire in which personal relationships, patronage, and clientage continued to play an important functional role in day-to-day administration, the reshuffling of personnel that occurred in the Guardianship Committee had a direct and immediate impact on the Molochnaia Mennonite settlement. While much about the Mennonite case might be unique, the broader phenomenon of mid-level bureaucratic deck-shuffling must have had other, as yet unexplored consequences across the empire. As for the specifically Mennonite case, the prevailing historiography tends to view Cornies narrowly as a secular agent of state reforms, driven by a thirst for power and wealth. There is no doubt that Cornies sought both power and wealth, but as this document collection shows, he also cared deeply about his community, and he possessed a unique

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understanding of the challenges it faced in the 1830s and 1840s. Reforms emanating from St. Petersburg had ripple effects in far-off settlements in New Russia; they helped bring about the Warkentin affair as well as the transformative economic reforms that Cornies and his Agricultural Society oversaw. The success of Cornies’ reforms was essential to preserving Mennonite privileges at a time when the state was intruding more and more on its subjects’ lives. By the end of 1842 Cornies had broad powers in his community and enormous responsibilities across his region. There was no longer any cohesive political force to oppose him, and while religious opposition survived, it was muted by the fate of Warkentin and his supporters. Now Cornies was free to implement his most ambitious reform goals. His efforts to do so are detailed in Volume Three.

NOTES 1 The Sheep Society is sometimes referred to in Cornies’s correspondence as the “Wool Improvement Society.” 2 Polnoe Sobranie Zakonov, series 2, vol. 3, 1828, n. 2280. 3 Fadeev to Cornies, 13 July 1831, Transformation on the Southern Ukrainian Steppe (hereafter TSUS), vol. 1, doc. 224, pp. 227–35. 4 On Kiselev, and historiographic debates about his impact, see David Moon, Abolition of Serfdom in Russia, (Abingdon: Routlege, 2002), 46–7; Carol S. Leonard, Agrarian Reform in Russia: The Road from Serfdom, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 28–30; Edward C. Thaden, Russia’s Western Borderlands (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985), 133–5. Volume 1 of this series incorrectly dates the creation of the Ministry of State Domains to 1836. However, the distinction between the Fifth Department and the ministry had little practical significance for the Mennonites. 5 There is no record of this proposal in the 1834 correspondence, but Cornies refers to it in his 26 February 1836 letter to Fadeev, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 1. 6 Forestry Society to Fadeev, 15 January 1835, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 471, p. 401. 7 Cornies to Fadeev, 10 March 1833, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 348, p. 315. 8 Ibid. 9 Heinrich Goerz, The Molotschna Settlement (Winnipeg: CMBC Publications and the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 1993), 36. Goerz bases his account on David Epp, Johann Cornies (Winnipeg: CMBC Publications and the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 1995), 45.

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Introduction 10 For example, in 1835 Johann Mierau from Petershagen planted his trees before the village mayor could inspect the depth of the planting trenches. Mierau was ordered to either produce statements from witnesses confirming that the trenches had been properly dug, or appear before the committee to explain his actions. The Forestry Society ordered Mierau to follow proper procedures in the future, but in this case, as in most, nothing more came of the incident. See Society to Petershagen Village Office, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 483, p. 409. 11 Forestry Society records from February 1836, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 536, p. 444. 12 Cornies to Fadeev, 13 September 1833, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 385, pp. 338–9. 13 Cornies to Fadeev, December 1835, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 519, p. 429. 14 Cornies to Fadeev, 26 February 1836, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 1. 15 Cornies to Fadeev, December 1835, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 519, p. 429. 16 Cornies to Fadeev, 24 January 1836, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 531, pp. 439–41. 17 Ibid. In this letter Cornies refers to 4500 desiatinas of land, but in all other sources the size of the land parcel is said to be 3800 desiatinas. 18 Fadeev to Cornies, 15 January 1836, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 529, pp. 438–9. 19 Cornies to Fadeev, 31 January 1836, TSUS, vol. 1. doc. 532, p. 441. 20 Fadeev to Cornies, 6 February 1836, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 535, pp. 443–4. 21 Guardianship Committee to Inspector Pelekh, 27 August 1836, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 25. 22 Inzov approved the society on 21 March (Inzov to Cornies, 21 March 1836, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 10). It was created on 1 May 1836 (Forestry Society to Inzov, 12 May 1836, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 13). 23 On the role of these societies, see TSUS, vol. 1, xliii–xliv. 24 Cornies to Fadeev, 6 August 1837, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 80. 25 District Office and Agricultural Society to Church Elders, 22 February 1837, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 44. 26 District Office and Forestry Society to village offices, undated draft, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 45. 27 Petr Keppen, Deviataia reviziia: izsledovanie o chisle zhitelei v Rossii v 1851 g. (St. Petersburg: Nauk, 1857). 28 Keppen, personal journal, Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, fond 30, opis 1, delo 226. 29 Ibid. 30 Nikolai Mikhailovich Druzhinin, Gosudarstvennye krest’iane i reforma P.D. Kiseleva (Moscow: Akademiia Nauk, 1946), I:525. 31 Cornies to Fadeev, 22 December 1837, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 116. 32 Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen, 30 April 1841, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 435. 33 Cornies to Fadeev, 26 April 1838, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 148.

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Transformation on the Southern Ukrainian Steppe 34 Ibid. 35 Fadeev’s response is not extant, but in a 15 August 1838 letter Cornies thanked him for the advice and support (Cornies to Fadeev, 15 August 1838, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 162). 36 Cornies to Inzov, 8 July 1838, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 154. 37 The best pro-Warkentin account of the election is Heinrich Neufeld, “The Dismissal of Aeltester Jakob Warkentin, 1842,” trans. Ben Hoeppner and Delbert Plett, Preservings 24 (December 2004): 19–21. 38 Peter M. Friesen, The Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia, 1789–1910, trans. J.B. Toews, Abraham Friesen, Peter J. Klassen, and Harry Loewen (Fresno: Board of Christian Literature of the Mennonite Brethren Church, 1980), 197. 39 Cornies to Fadeev, 15 November 1838, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 174. 40 Regier received 563 of the 955 votes cast. Khariton Pelekh to General Inzov, 17 November 1838, State Archive of the Odessa Region (SAOR), fond 6, opis 1, delo 4850. 41 Agricultural Society to Village Offices, n.d., 1838, TSUS, vol. 2 doc. 182. 42 John R. Staples, Cross-Cultural Encounters on the Ukrainian Steppe: Settling the Molochna Basin, 1783–1861 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003), 77. 43 Cornies to Jacob Penner and Heinrich Heese, 31 July 1828, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 149, pp. 156–7. 44 Forestry Society to Blumenort Village Office, 1835, TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 493, pp. 416–17. 45 Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499. 46 On the Klassen mill, see Dmytro Myeshkov, Die Schwarzmeerdeutschen und ihre Welten 1781–1871 (Essen: Klartext Verlag, 2008), 96–9. Regarding the fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710. 47 For details of cloth production, profits, and numbers of employees, see Myeshkov, Die Schwarzmeerdeutschen, 96–8. 48 Regarding Berdiansk’s effect on the Molochnaia economy, see Staples, Cross-Cultural Encounters, 123–4. 49 Cornies, Report for 1838 by Johann Cornies, 1 January 1839, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 185. 50 Ibid. 51 See, for example, his request for a loan of 10,000 rubles, Wiebe to Cornies, 4 September 1840, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 348, and his correspondence regarding loan payments, Wiebe to Cornies, 31 May 1841, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 451. 52 See, for example, Cornies’ purchase of a barrel of wine, Cornies to Steven, 22 January 1842, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 535. Regarding international export of wool, see Wiebe to Cornies, 1 March 1844, SAOR, fond 89, opis 1, delo 1094.

lx

Introduction 53 Agricultural Society to Village Offices, n.d. (1838), TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 182. 54 Cornies to Keppen, 10 July 1840, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 324. Bradke was accompanied by Julius Witte, a ministry agronomist, future son-in-law of Fadeev and father of Sergei Witte. 55 Cornies to Bradke, 15 November 1840, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 377. 56 Regarding this Sarepta proposal, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 32, 51, 77, 84, 86. 57 Cornies to Wiebe, 26 July 1837, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 78. 58 Cornies to Fadeev, 6 August 1837, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 80. 59 Cornies to Doehring, 29 August 1838, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 164. 60 Described in Cornies to Fadeev, 12 August 1839, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 227. 61 Regarding Cornies’ role in developing potato cultivation, see Staples, CrossCultural Encounters, 146–7, and TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699. 62 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701. 63 Cornies to Khariton Pelekh, 2 March 1836, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 3. 64 Cornies to Christian Steven, 11 January 1839, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 186. 65 Ibid. 66 Cornies to Steven, 17 June 1840, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 317. 67 Cornies to Steven, 12 July 1840, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 326. 68 Anon., “Byt Molochanskikh Menonitskikh kolonii,” ZhMGI, Vol. I, Bk 2, 1839[1841], 553–62, 560. 69 Indeed it bears speculating whether Warkentin’s decision to go on the offensive in 1840 might not have reflected his own sense that he was losing the political battle. 70 Heinrich Neufeld, “A Further Example of the Molotschna Conflict,” trans. Rev. Ben Hoeppner, Preservings 24 (December 2004): 23–8, 25. 71 Ibid. 72 Cornies, description of the Warkentin affair, undated, between 10 September and 18 October 1842, Transformation on the Southern Steppe, vol. 2, doc. 669. 73 Cornies, description of the administrative and other arrangements instituted for the functioning of the Molochnaia Mennonite District in 1841, December 1841, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 521. 74 Cornies to Fadeev, 28 January 1837, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 40. 75 Cornelius Krahn and Richard D. Thiessen, “Lange, Friedrich Wilhelm (1800–1864),” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, retrieved 9 January 2017 from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lange,_Friedrich_ Wilhelm_(1800–1864)&oldid=105290.

lxi

Transformation on the Southern Ukrainian Steppe 76 Gnadenfeld Christian School Society to Agricultural Society, 1 February 1838, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 129. 77 Ibid. 78 See note 73. 79 Cornies to Fadeev, 15 August 1838, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 162; Cornies to Mariupol Mennonite District Office, 28 October 1842, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 678. 80 Neufeld, “A Further Example of the Molotschna Conflict,” 21. 81 Inspector for the Colonies of the Second District Pelekh to the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, 23 October 1840, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 369. 82 Ibid. 83 Cornies to Fadeev, 21 November 1841, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 506. 84 Fadeev to Cornies, 23 December 1842, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 518. 85 Neither the exact date not the exact outcome of these elections is known. 86 Cornies to Hahn, 7 February 1842, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 554. 87 Neufeld claimed that Regier intended to stay in office, and this is the standard version in all subsequent accounts, but Cornies’ correspondence makes it clear that this is not true. 88 See note 72. 89 Ibid. 90 Neufeld’s account says 400 votes; Cornies said 395. Neufeld, “A Further Example of the Molotschna Conflict,” 21; see also note 72. 91 SAOR, 1 January 1841, fond 6, opis 1, delo 5723, pp. 711–22. 92 Pelekh to District Office, 31 December 1841, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 520. 93 Agricultural Society to Guardianship Committee, n.d. (probably 27 January 1842), TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 541. 94 See note 72. 95 Ibid. 96 Johann Cornies, Gerhard Enns, and Jacob Martens to Bernhard Fast, n.d. (probably 28 January 1842), TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 543. 97 Ibid. 98 On Warkentin’s position, see Neufeld, “A Further Example of the Molotschna Conflict.” Cornies’ account implicitly confirms Neufeld’s. 99 Agricultural Society to Guardianship Committee, n.d. (after 27 January 1842), TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 544. 100 Cornies to Hahn, 7 February 1842, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 552. 101 The precise date of the May elections is unknown. The first reference to their results came on 25 May, Cornies to Hahn, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 593.

lxii

Introduction 102 Agricultural Society to Gebietsamt, 28 February 1842, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 563. 103 Cornies, Enns, and Martens to Warkentin, 27 April 1842, TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 585. 104 See note 72. 105 Neufeld, “A Further Example of the Molotschna Conflict.”

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1836

1. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 26 February 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/10. Honourable Sir, Gracious State Counsellor Fadeev, I received Yr. Honour’s letters of 24 January and 11 February. They do me honour and I will govern myself according to their contents. Because appropriate regulations have been implemented in this District, activity has increased visibly. The time has perhaps arrived to establish a society with responsibilities for the improvement of field cultivation, pasture crops and farm implements.1 When Yr. Honour was here two years ago, you expressed a wish that such a field cultivation society might be established. At that time, it was not quite clear to me whether Forestry Society members were to combine their current activities with those having to do with the improvement of field cultivation. Now I understand that it would be desirable to combine our Forestry Society with a society promoting field cultivation, since these two branches of industry have so much in common. Speedy progress could be made if both were pursued in tandem. I therefore respectfully submit for Yr. Honour’s wise consideration my humble opinion that the existing Society for the Dissemination Foresttrees, Orchards, Sericulture and Viticulture pursue the improvement in all branches of field cultivation in this District. If Yr. Honour agrees, you might kindly make a benevolent submission to His Excellency, the

1 This is Cornies’ first mention of the Agricultural Society, which would be formally established in May 1836. See TSUS, vol. 1, Introduction; vol. 2, docs. 1, 9, 10, 13.

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

Chief Curator to have this established and confirmed. The Inspector and the District Office should then be notified and ordered to publicize this new development to all inhabitants. The current District Chairman Regier would be a very useful member of the Society to Improve Field Cultivation, as vice-chairman of the Society. In my opinion, were Yr. Honour to agree in regard to Regier, the latter should be confirmed in office when the Society is established. Perhaps a formal directive is not needed. Instead an order could be publicized that includes a detailed explanation of the Society’s obligations. These obligations might be simplified by no longer requiring a declaration, at the start of each year, spelling out improvements that the Society planned on making during that interval. An annual report might alternatively be required at the end of each year listing all improvements accomplished during that year in various branches of field cultivation. Respectfully, with esteem, I endeavour to be Yr. Honour’s totally devoted Johann Cornies 2. District Office to Johann Cornies. 1[?] March 1836. SAOR 89–1-367/16. To esteemed Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, This District’s orphan administrators have found it necessary to revise the inheritance rules hitherto followed here through various additions that would render them more suitable for current needs. Enclosed is a copy of the inheritance rules presently in force, with the request that you examine them and return this copy with your proposals to the District Office. District Office at Halbstadt, 1[?] March 1836. Deputy Driedger [?] 3. Johann Cornies to Khariton T. Pelekh. 2 March 1836 SAOR 89-1-388/11. Honoured Inspector Pelekh, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication No. 209 of 26 February 1836, I respectfully submit the records of the Russian persons situated on my sheepfarm for your consideration. I should explain that I submitted records with this information to Regional Captain Kolosov on 9 January 1836, asking him to have these records checked against records in the villages where these people are registered to verify that they have paid their taxes and have permission to live on my property. I have not

4

1836

received the Regional Captain’s reply. Eight days ago I hired another three persons, not listed in this record. They are Ilia Chernashinen of Petropavlovka, and Ianos Iaremenko and Omelko Malorenko of Grigorievka. The first two are in possession of legal tax certificates for this year. The latter has none, but his father has obtained monies from me to pay his soul tax. Would Yr. Honour kindly investigate the tax payments of these three individuals, and also of persons listed on the submitted record? Do they have permission to be in my service? As to religious practices, I sternly insist that everyone follow their religious practices correctly and behave accordingly. I am convinced that a person who is negligent in regard to the demands of his religion is capable of every evil and cannot be a faithful servant. The Molochnaia colonists in my service are the gardener August Wilke, and Johann Garwasser. Should they have fallen behind in their tax payments, I will send them to pay their debts immediately upon notification. Karl Ulrich, W. Ulrich and Friedrich Krausse live on crown lands on the Tashchenak in their own zemlianka [sod hut]. I ordered them to remove themselves and their possessions this month and not to live there further. I also have two apprentices from the Mariupol Colonist District that were sent to me to learn sheep breeding under an arrangement with State Counsellor Fadeev. Since November 1835, I have in my care a boy of sixteen years whose parents, because of their poverty, could not feed and clothe him. My servant, Georg Bliwernitz is from Rosengart and my cook Regina Fast is from Kirschwalde. They have been with me since December 1835. Although their relatives promised to negotiate [tax] certificates for them, I do not yet have them, and would appreciate help in obtaining them. 4. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 4 March 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/12. Dear brother Heinrich, With this mail, I am sending forty-five paper rubles [Rubles Banco Assignant] for Mina’s father and twenty-five paper rubles for Prokop’s brother Cornei Lananenko. I urgently ask you to have the enclosed copies of passes and letters passed on to the relatives of these two people in Koydak and Deevka. They need them to obtain their new passes. Let them come to you, and put their expenses on my account. Should the

5

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

money reach you later than this letter, kindly advance seventy paper rubles to them on my behalf. You will definitely have it returned with the next mail. Then set aside money for these passes, forty rubles for Mina’s tax money and twenty for Prokop’s. Do not give the relatives any money until they have submitted these annual passes to you and then send the passes to the enclosed address. Do it quickly, because the passes have already expired, and I do not wish to be embarrassed in regard to this matter. I am sure you will take care of this matter as quickly as possible. Thank God that we are all well, except that Peter Cornies is somewhat sickly. Best of greetings to you and your wife and children. I remain your loving brother J. Cornies. 5. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 6 March 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/13. Honoured Mr. Blueher, I received your valued letter of 14 January 1836 and the four seals for which I thank you. I also send you my most obliging thanks for the advance you gave my children on the understanding that if they should need money in future you will give it to them on my account. I will repay punctually, with interest, when and in whatever form you request. I would do my best, as you ask, to purchase 600 to 800 puds [one pud = 16.38 kg] of wool in spring on your behalf, but I fear that I will be unable to purchase this precise amount at the price you have specified because speculators are already bargaining for our wool. I will, however, keep an eye on the market and have the purchases made on your behalf as cheaply as possible. District Chairman Bartsch in Khortitsa informs me that, instead of selling its wool locally, the community would prefer that it be sold by you on consignment in Moscow. By special messenger to Khortitsa, I immediately asked for precise information regarding the price at which they would be prepared to sell their wool. Together with my wife, I send heartfelt greetings to you and your dear wife with a request that you inform our children that we are both well. Please give them our greetings. I remain your loving and faithfully obligated friend and servant, Johann Cornies.

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1836

6. Johann Cornies to Johann Cornies, Jr. 14 March 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/14v. Dear son Johann in Moscow, Your letters of 20 January and 11 February have arrived informing me that you and your sister are well. We thank God that we too are in good health, as are all of our relatives. We are pleased that you and Agnes are both diligently engaged in useful activities. The larch seed arrived, but regretably half of it is sterile and incapable of sprouting. The stone-pine cones (that you call cedar) have already germinated and have grown three to four inches tall. Your dear mother welcomed the various flower seeds. I know of no piece of land for sale in this vicinity as large as 30,000 desiatinas. Perhaps there is one in Alesk Uezd. Winter was uncommonly long with much snow, but without severe frost and snow storms. The soil has been well moistened and we hope for a blessed summer. We have, since 1 March, had beautiful warm May days and the grass is greening quickly. Blessed with such weather, everyone has begun their planting. Our farmwork is proceeding normally. Jacob Klassen, Tashchenak, suffered painfully from gout this winter and is still very weak. The entire post road can now be used, across Tashchenak and along the villages. The large bull and one of the Dutch cows have died. The cow was already lame and sick when it arrived but the bull was strong and healthy. It developed a serious neck infection and died of the malady about a month ago. Mr. Fadeev has been appointed Chief Curator for Kalmyks in Astrakhan Guberniia as you have probably read in the newspaper. According to his instructions he will pass through here in early or mid-April. He hopes to see both of you privately in Sarepta, but I do not think that you will be there when he arrives. It would be to your advantage if you could gain practical experience with surveying, even if you have to stay in Moscow for a few weeks longer. Try to acquire a good, comfortable travelling vehicle with a shaft for your journey. We could use it here on your return. More on the next post day. I, your dear mother and everyone in our house send you many greetings and your mother sends her heartfelt compliments to Madame Blueher. Adieu Your Father who loves you, Johann Cornies

7

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

7. District Office to Johann Cornies. 15 March 1836. SAOR 889-1-376/37. To honourable Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, Mayor Gerhard Wall and Johann Reimer, Jacob Penner and Clas Epp, Prangenau, have been punished by the District Office with a day of work. They are thought to have been the main culprits in cutting through the dam. The District Office asks you to make appropriate arrangements in regard to the condition of the dam, if this is possible, so that water can be released as desired in future. 15 March 1835. District Office in Halbstadt, Chairman Regier 8. Johann Cornies to Johann Cornies, Jr. 18 March 1836. SAOR 89-l-388/16. Dear son Johann in Moscow, Further to my letter of 14 March, I would add that your mother would like you to spend a month in Sarepta, perhaps even six weeks, to acquire knowledge useful for your temporal and spiritual lives. Visit all of its institutions and take note of anything of value that you see. Travel across the land of the Sarepta Colony, noting the composition of its soil and any of its facilities. You might also find it useful to visit Astrakhan by steamship or overland on a safe, fast road to see this city with its varied inhabitants. Mr. Fadeev would be greatly pleased to have a visit from you. Agnes might use this time to occupy herself doing something useful in the Sisters’ House in Sarepta. When you leave Sarepta for home, I would advise you to take the road along the Don through Cherkask and Taganrog. It would be most economical to hire horses from Tsaritsyn to Taganrog or even better to Mariupol. You could easily hire horses for a reasonable price from Mariupol to the German colony Kirschwalde, and German ones home from Kirschwalde. These are just my assumptions. Make the most suitable and pleasant arrangements for yourselves, and write me when you reach Saratov and Sarepta. Give me an address in Sarepta in plenty of time so that my letters can reach you. As for your question as to whether 30,000 desiatinas of land are available for sale nearby, I have made inquiries with General Rakhmanov and discovered that he is ready to sell 30 to 40,000

8

1836

desiatinas, with buildings, in Alesk Uezd about sixty to seventy verstas from here. Well water is available at a depth of from eight to ten faden. Thank God that everything here is much as Agnes left it, except that we have two new neighbours. Warkentin, son-in-law of P. Enns, has replaced D. Penner and H. Hiebert and Elisabeth has replaced H. Wiebe. David Penner is building a house on his cottager plot and Wiebe is living in Pastwa. Peter Friesen has bought a fullholding in Muensterberg and lives there. Sawatsky’s Sara married someone in Lichtenau. We are all happy and well in our house and wish you the same, with all my heart. Your dear mother sends greetings to you and Agnes. Please write often. Every letter is a joy. Agnes should write her dear mother a few lines. Give my respectful greetings to Mr. Blueher. Mother asks you to give Madame Blueher her heartiest greetings. Conduct your life in God’s presence and be pious. Adieu, your loving father, Cornies 9. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. Sent Odessa, 20 March 1836. SAOR 89-1-367/57. Dear Cornies, I received your letter of 26 February and its contents pleased me very much. I am convinced that the Society’s members are well-intentioned and will continue to be useful in planting trees and in other branches of agriculture. Field cultivation will always be of great importance and I hope to receive a formal order about this matter from the Chief Curator next week.2 I unexpectedly found Russian drivers here who have undertaken to convey all of my belongings and people as far as Sarepta for a low price. I will presumably no longer need drivers from Molochnaia, and hope to see you about 20 April. May you fare well, your friend, A. Fadeev Received 5 April 1836.

2 A reference to the proposed creation of the Agricultural Society. See TSUS, vol. 1, Introduction; vol. 2, docs. 1, 9, 10, 13.

9

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

10. General Inzov to Johann Cornies. 21 March 1836. SAOR 6-1-4389/1.3 To the Molochnaia Mennonite Society to Develop Agriculture, Recognizing the exemplary attention that Molochnaia Mennonites have paid to the development of agriculture and also the special privileges granted them as compared to other foreign settlers in this region, and in view of their well-known industry, prosperity and the services rendered by a number of well-intentioned people, most notably the Forestry Society members, I deem it highly useful to incorporate further measures into this Society’s work. In addition to advancing tree planting, it should also improve other branches of the economy, using all necessary means. The administration of this work should be organized after all significant obstacles to the development of agriculture and trades in the Molochnaia Mennonite District have been identified and analyzed. Methods in keeping with local circumstances must be found to eliminate all obstacles. Members of the Society will use economic studies and journals to learn about ideas, experiments and demonstrations in agriculture that they think can be usefully adapted to their own region. These they will publicize and disseminate among well-intentioned Mennonites. They should conduct experiments themselves, create models to encourage others and provide detailed instructions and assistance to improve agricultural machinery. As a result, fodder crop yields will increase markedly as will those of useful garden crops, dyes, manufactured goods, etc. To assist the Society in this matter, I consider it useful to appoint an assistant or first deputy chair. I have appointed Chairman Regier of the Molochnaia Mennonite District to this position, since I know him to be well-intentioned and knowledgeable. At the end of each year, the Society must submit detailed reports to me describing specifically those activities that were carried out during the previous year, including those of its tree planting program. I have complete confidence that this Society will make every possible effort to complete its mission successfully. I believe I am correct in

3 This letter is Ivan Inzov’s formal authorization for the creation of the Agricultural Society. Inzov was the Chief Guardian for Foreign Settlers in New Russia. See TSUS, vol. 1, Introduction; vol. 2, docs. 1, 9, 10, 13.

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1836

trusting it to fulfill a good Christian’s obligation to serve the interests of his community to the greatest degree possible. I append orders and instructions to the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office to render all necessary assistance to the Society in so far as this can be done. 11. Johann Wiebe (Neuteich West Prussia) to Johann Cornies. 19 April 1836. SAOR 89-1-377/18. I am hereby sending you one-half metz [1.72 litres] of oil radish seeds (marked n.I) and one-half metz summer rape-seed (n.II). Both varieties are summer crops demanding a well-worked field. They should be sown with a drill-machine and the spaces between [rows] later worked with a weeding plough. Rape-seed must be handled carefully when harvesting. Radish is hard to thresh because it has very oily pods. It is hence advisable to leave it on the field for a long time, even if it gets wet and dries again. A nice table-oil can be made from this radish and nine to eleven thaler are paid here for a scheffel [bushel]. I will get four metz [13.76 litres] of winter rape-seed for you later. Sugar will be made from beets here in our region. A factory is being built in Elbing and many beets are growing in the surrounding region. By winter I might be able to inform you about the success of this industry. You will probably have received my earlier letter. I notified the Classen heirs that their inheritance has been put in order and I await a reply. Could you, when possible, send me news about my cousin J. Wiebe? Greetings to you and your loved ones. Commending myself to you and your brothers in friendship as Joh. Wiebe. I have just received some winter rape-seed and send a metz [3.44 litres] of it in a bag. In this area, up to two metz are sown per morgen [acre], but only one and one-half metz of the summer rape-seed. Answered 7 November 1837. 12. Johann Cornies to Johann Cornies, Jr. 28 April 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/21. Dear son Johann in Moscow, I received your letter of 7 April yesterday, just after I returned home from escorting State Counsellor Fadeev. He arrived in Halbstadt with his family on 23 April. On 24 April, they took their midday meal with us in Ohrloff and spent the night at our sheepfarm with me and your dear mother. From there, I accompanied them through Steinbach to Pastwa

11

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

and took my leave of this unforgettable guardian and benefactor on 26 April. I had to promise him and Madame that you would visit them in Astrahkan. Therefore please do so and pay your respects. Such a trip will definitely be useful for you. Find lodgings for Agnes in the Sisters’ House or with other good people in Sarepta. The State Counsellor had great difficulty in taking leave of the Molochnaia Mennonite settlers. I am waiting for an address in Sarepta so that I can write to you there. Make sure Agnes keeps herself warm at all times on the journey, especially in the morning and evening. The cool humidity of spring in those regions can cause great harm to one’s health. Never travel at night. Always find night quarters in time, but get up early in the morning. Avoid drinking water that comes from many different sources. We are not setting a time limit by which you must be home, leaving this to your decision, even if you only arrive here in late August. Mother especially wishes that you might stay in Sarepta four to six weeks and more. Do write often about your journey, even if only a few lines. We are expecting early news that Agnes is better – healthy and well again. We are healthy, cheerful and contented, something we also wish for you from the bottom of our hearts. Give Mr. Blueher and his esteemed family our friendly greetings. With parental greetings, we commend both of you to our all-knowing God’s protection. Live piously and in God’s presence. Your loving father, Johann Cornies 13. Forestry Society to General Inzov. 12 May 1836. SAOR 6-1-4389/5.4 His Excellency, Chief Guardian for Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia, General of the Infantry and Knight in several Orders, Mr. Inzov, From the Society for the Advancement of Forest-tree and Orchard Planting, Sericulture and Viticulture in the Molochnaia Mennonite District. Report. The Society is honoured to respond to Yr. Excellency’s Directive No. 1825 of 21 March 1836 with respect to the improvement and elevation of agriculture and trades in the Molochnaia Mennonite District. In accordance with the above mentioned Directive, a meeting held on

4

Cornies here confirms the creation of the Agricultural Society. See: TSUS, vol. 1, Introduction; vol. 2, docs. 1, 9, 10, 13.

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1 May by the Society for the Advancement of Forest-tree and Orchard Planting, Sericulture and Viticulture established a Society for the Improvement and Elevation of Agriculture and Trades. To provide better cooperation, Johann Regier, present District Chairman, confirmed by Yr. Excellency in the Molochnaia Mennonite District, took his seat as the assistant, or First Colleague to the chairman, and was inducted into his functions. This Society will zealously strive to fulfil Yr. Excellency’s wishes in improving and elevating agriculture and trades in the Molochnaia Mennonite District. It will demonstrate by deeds that they will continue to earn Yr. Excellency’s gracious trust and approval. Chairman Johann Cornies, Member Gerhard Enns, Member Abraham Wiebe, Member Wilhelm Martens. 14. Peter Hahn to Johann Cornies. 6 June 1836. SAOR 89-1-376/84.5 Most valued Mr. Cornies, I turn to you with a sincere request that I hope you will not reject. My circumstances force me to take this step and you are the only man I know who can help me. I have been summoned to Petersburg to be returned here as commander of an artillery battery. The journey from Ekaterinoslav with my family has already cost me quite a bit. Now this journey to Petersburg and my stay there, probably lasting from three to six months, are creating great difficulties for me and force me to claim your kindness. I will be your thankful debtor and my father-in-law, Chief Judge Andrei Mikhailovich Fadeev will be my guarantor. Kind Mr. Cornies, I most urgently request that you assist me with 3,000 rubles, or at the very least, with 2,500 rubles. Without this money I cannot possibly survive in Petersburg. You may be assured that I will not abuse your kindness and I give you my word that you will get your money back after a year and a day, because I have a bill of exchange for 4,000 rubles deposited in Shlakhtin and I cannot get this money before April 1837. Should you find it difficult to raise this sum by yourself,

5 Peter Hahn was the son-in-law of Andrei Fadeev. Cornies’ efforts to gain repayment of the loan would stretch on for more than a year. Regarding this loan, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 14, 23, 66, 70, 71, 104, 105, 132, 133, 206, 241.

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Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

there is of course good Mr. Martens who would probably not turn down this arrangement. I therefore request that he, too, might show me his kind favour. If you are kind enough not to reject my request, address your letter directly to Petersburg to the address given here. I leave for Petersburg on 15 June. If you want a bill of exchange or receipt from me, please let me know and I will send it straight to you or to Mr. Biller in Josephsthal. In any case, you are definitely assured of a conscientious debtor who will thank you with all his heart. Peter Hahn. Received 23 June 1836. Answered 24 June 1836. 15. Heinrich Cornies to Johann Cornies. 12 June 1836. SAOR 89-1-376/88. Dear Brother, Thank God we have all arrived home healthy and happy, and have found everything in order. I have had lead numbers cast as a test. The foundry cannot make numbers in cast-iron because the Crown is no longer giving them work and smelting a few numbers is hardly worth the effort for such a large concern. The cast numbers will be like the ones I sent you. They assure me that these are preferable to ones made of cast-iron. They neither rust nor crack and do not need to be painted black. Cast-iron numbers do not last long unless they are painted because they are so thin that frost cracks them. The price is fifty kopeks per letter. They will also cast brass letters at one ruble apiece. I paid five rubles, fifty kopeks for these eleven numbers. If they do not cast further numbers for us, they also demand a four ruble payment for moulds. In my opinion, these numbers are suitable. I should let these people know what to expect. If you want them, write to me soon and tell me how many numbers you need. I spoke with Gulefsk about grave markers. They make lead markers for twenty-five rubles each, with colours and gold provided by the owner. If I should order them, please let me know about the wording of the inscriptions and if the background should be black or blue. The letters to Prussia had not been sent because no letter had arrived from Neufeld to break the contract. I have sent them. With many greetings to all of you, I remain your brother, Heinrich Cornies. Am sending the package and this letter with Larion, the mason. The same.

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16. Johann Cornies to Johann Regier. 20 June 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/27. Honoured friend Johann Regier, District Chairman, I write only to say that if your circumstances permit please make the inspection tour to Rudnerweide, etc., before you travel to Ekaterinoslav. On Monday, I will begin an eight day inspection trip of villages on Society business. I could use this opportunity to speak forcefully to the directors we have mentioned, placing the whole matter close to their hearts. May you fare well. Greetings from your friend, Johann Cornies 17. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 20 June 1836. SAOR 89-1-367/1. Dear Cornies, It is only two months since I left your dear Molochnaia settlements but I have not received any news for a very long time. How are conditions and what price did you and your brethren receive for your wool? How is the harvest going? Believe me my friend, I will never, in any way, be able to break the habit of taking the keenest interest in New Russia and especially in the Molochnaia settlements. I arrived here safely two weeks after my departure from Molochnaia, though not without problems because of the heat and of the water on the Don and the Volga. We spent two days in Sarepta. It is a pleasant little place, markedly different from the wild steppes surrounding it, but it is only a settlement of craftsmen, and no attempts have been made to develop orchards or economic arrangements such as those of the Molochnaia Mennonites. They buy almost everything to sustain themselves. What shall I tell you about my dear Kalmyks that you do not already know? They are a good-natured but still wild people, very poor, scattered across eleven million desiatinas with no industry or useful activities and oppressed by their nobles and officials. Disorder exists at every level of every administrative branch. I will probably be able to accomplish little, very little, in improving this area, yet I must make the best effort possible, even if only for a while. I am totally occupied now with official papers but am thinking of touring this desert region in August. I hope your son will arrive here soon. I will acquaint him with everything worth seeing, although this will not take much time. The city is large but not at all prosperous. Trade with Persia is deteriorating. Only the fishery provides much economic activity.

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Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

Local orchards are similar in appearance and condition to the mulberry plantations in the old village of Khortitsa. They say that the fruit is good, but I have not yet seen any. Vineyards have suffered badly from severe cold and drought in the last four or five years. Trees, vegetables, everything needs watering. Only the mulberry trees seem to be doing well, but few people are interested in occupying themselves with sericulture. This is all that I can tell you about this region in contrast to what I expect you will report from the Molochnaia villages. How is our good Martens and how is his business going? I send heartfelt greetings for him and also for all the good Molochnaia Mennonites, especially to Regier and Enz.6 Give my greetings to your wife as well. May you fare well and happily, that is my sincerest wish, your devoted A. Fadeev. Received 24 July 1836. 18. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 8 July 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/34v. Dear Brother, I urgently ask you to forward, by the first mail, the enclosed letter to Heinrich Dyck in West Prussia. Advance the postage for me and inform me of the charges. Praise God that I and my wife are in very good health. According to a letter from Johann from Saratov, dated 4 June, he and Agnes have arrived there in good health. At this time Johann will probably be in Astrakhan and Agnes in Sarepta. With friendly greetings to you and your dear wife, your loving brother Johann Cornies. 19. District Office to Johann Cornies. 27 July 1836. SAOR 89-1-376/62. To honourable Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, An order from Inspector Pelekh requires you to send the newly immigrated Cornelius Fast and Johann Dyck, living on your sheepfarm, to

6 This unusual variant on the surname “Enns” is an accurate reproduction of the original letter.

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1836

the District Office. They have been added to the Mennonite population count. On Monday, 3 August, they should sign the documents affirming their loyalty to the Russian throne. District Office, Halbstadt 27 July 1836. District Chairman Regier. 20. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 17 August 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/41. His Honour, Gracious State Counsellor Steven, I hereby send Yr. Honour a crate with three cheeses, weighing one pud, with the respectful request that you kindly forgive the long delay. These were too fresh to send along until now. Other cheeses will follow once they have ripened sufficiently. You are not to pay the messenger delivering the cheese. Johann Cornies 21. Johann Cornies to Wilhelm Lange. 17 August 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/41v. Esteemed Elder Wilhelm Lange in Gnadenfeld, My wife sends you some apples with Anau, my Cherkessian servant. Please accept them with love. My wife and I would find it especially agreeable if this sign of our love might not displease you. Do not consider the value of this gift but only the well-disposed intention behind it. We hope and pray that our loving God might grant you the undisturbed enjoyment of Yr. life. 22. Wilhelm Lange to Johann Cornies. 18 August 1836. SAOR 89-1-367/29. Valued Ohm Cornies, Your valued and treasured wife’s love has not only astonished me and my dear wife but has moved us to tears. How could we possibly be offended by such evidence of your love? I would surely be the most unthankful person in the world. We are in a dilemma as to how we might return it. No matter how much we thank you, we have no idea how we have managed to gain your love. In the meantime we send you our heartiest thanks. We know that you and your treasured wife have done this through love for our faithful Saviour. You see me as His servant and want to show me love for His sake. Humbly and in childlike manner we entrust our response to him, who leaves no drink of water

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unrewarded, even to the lowliest. At the Resurrection, He will justly reward this evidence of your love, done for His sake. Our thousand-fold greetings to you and your beloved, valued wife. With honest and thankful love, we remain your faithfully obligated friends, the Wilhelm Lange family. 23. Traugott Blueher to Johann Cornies. 18 August 1836. SAOR 89-1-366/6.7 Beloved friend Cornies, I am transferring to you the enclosed credit note for 2,500 rubles received from Captain Hahn. He was not in Petersburg and this delayed the carrying out of your commission. I have received no further news from your children in Sarepta. It is probably time for them to think about continuing their journey. I sold the Spanish wool our firm received on account on good terms for six months. Should there be anything noteworthy about the wool, I will let you know later, after the wool is sorted and a more definitive assessment can be made. Thank you again for your loving assistance in this matter. With greetings of heartfelt love to you and your wife, I remain your faithfully obligated friend, Traugott Blueher. 24. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 25 August 1836. SAOR 89-1-587/1. Dear Cornies, You have forgotten me completely. I have not received a single syllable from you since my departure. Please write to me, and inform me about everything that concerns you and your brethren. Never and at no time will I stop taking an active interest in the good Molochnaia Mennonites, in their happiness and well-being. I intend to compare the conditions under which the settlers and Nogais live to show the contrast in well-being between settled and nomadic peoples. I would like to obtain the necessary information, accurate even if brief, about the total population and the livestock kept and also the number of villages established in Melitopol and Dnieper

7

Ibid.

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uezds, especially with reference to the Nogais. If it is possible for you to do so, please send me a comparison of advantages and differences between their present settled life and their earlier nomadic existence. This information would put me deeply in your debt. Tomorrow I am travelling to the Horde and to Sarepta but I doubt it will be possible for me to meet your son. May you fare well and do not forget your completely devoted A. Fadeev. N.B. I think I will travel to Petersburg this winter. 25. Guardianship Committee to Inspector Pelekh. 27 August 1836. SAOR 89-1-377/10.8 To Inspector Pelekh for Settlements in the Second District, and to the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, The Minister of the Interior has notified the Chief Guardian of Colonists that the Governor-General of New Russia and Bessarabia, in agreement with His Excellency, has applied to the Minister to reward one of the best land owners in Tavrida, the Molochnaia Mennonite Johann Cornies, for his activities. He is being assigned for his perpetual use, five hundred desiatinas of the land he now leases and on which he has established various of his plantations. The Minister appeared before the Ministers’ Committee that made this decision, whereupon His Majesty, the Tsar, deigned to order that five hundred desiatinas of land be allotted to the Mennonite Cornies for his perpetual use, with the stipulation that he and his descendants, in using this land according to the rights and privileges of the Mennonites, should sell the land only to Molochnaia settlers and not to anyone else. His heirs must pay annually, as a perpetual rental, an eighth of the rental amount presently charged for all the land he now leases, which is four thousand desiatinas. When the district administration allots these five hundred desiatinas of land to the Mennonite Cornies, it is required to ensure that the adjoining land not be rendered useless for settlement because of the manner in which the above mentioned part is separated.

8 Regarding Cornies’ efforts to acquire permanent ownership of his leased land at Iushanle, see note 6 and TSUS, vol. 1, docs. 1, 5, 152, 177, 178, 185, 531, 535; vol. 2, docs. 25, 26, 27.

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As the Guardianship Committee informs you and the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office of the contents of this order from the Minister of the Interior, it orders you to give close consideration at the site where these five hundred desiatinas graciously assigned for the Mennonite Johann Cornies are set apart from his four thousand desiatinas of rented land to ensure that it is done most advantageously for his established plantations and in such a way as to prevent the neighbouring land from becoming impossible to settle. A sketch must be prepared of the surveys done to determine this separation and submitted to this Committee for preliminary approval. A special order can be expected. The original was signed by the General Chairman of the Infantry Inzov, Secretary Volodovskii, Desk Supervisor Bakun[–?]. 26. Johann Cornies to His Excellency [Vorontsov?]. September 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/43.9 I was pleasantly surprised and deeply moved by Inspector Pelekh’s message that, on Yr. Excellency’s representations, five hundred desiatinas of land were granted me for my perpetual use and for the use of my descendants. They have been designated at the location where I have established agricultural arrangements for the last few years. I hereby offer Yr. Excellency my most heartfelt and sincere thanks for Yr. great sympathy in securing for me the foundation of my well-being. I rest secure in the hope that Yr. Excellency’s benevolence will never fade in the hearts of my descendants. Yr. Excellency’s obedient servant, Johann Cornies 27. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 20 October 1836. SAOR 89-1-367/51.10 Dear Cornies, I was sincerely pleased to hear that your zeal and unceasing activity on behalf of your community and its well-being have been rewarded,

9

Ibid. Cornies sent a comparable letter to Andrei Fadeev: see SAOR 89-1-388/45v, 2 September 1836. 10 Ibid.

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even if only in a small way. Now you are at least assured that your agricultural establishment and the beautiful plantings on your khutor [private landholding] will remain undisturbed and continue to be your property and the property of your children. Continue the useful endeavours you have pursued on behalf of the happiness and well-being of your brethren. Further progress is possible. Whatever time and circumstances may bring, I hope that you will also remain peacefully in possession of the remaining part of the Molochnaia Mennonite land you need. I recommend that you make an effort to express your thanks to Count Vorontsov himself, as the actual mediator of this benevolence from the highest level. I would gladly carry out your wish that I recommend Mr. Pelekh’s recall to Odessa but to whom? Why would I write about this? You have probably heard about the unhappy incident involving General Inzov. It will probably end his participation in colonial matters. There is no longer even one single soul left in the Guardianship Committee except for General Inzov who would have any interest in the settlements and their well-being. Have patience and persuade Mr. Pelekh to have it as well. Sooner or later, the high authorities will become aware that colonial administration needs sensible directors blessed with the broadest insight. Meanwhile, you must both do your part to prevent even the slightest deterioration of what was founded with such effort and good insight by the late Contenius. That is all I can tell you under present conditions. By now your children have probably arrived at home. It gave me great pleasure to see them again in Sarepta a month ago. Please let me know if they returned home safely and in good health. We are having the nicest fall weather here although we have been in need of rain since August. The local inhabitants here pay little attention to this. They seed or plant almost nothing. May you fare well and give my greetings also to all of your loved ones as well as to good Martens, Enz, etc. Always devoted, A. Fadeev 28. Johann Cornies to Johann Regier. 27 October 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/53. Honoured friend, District Chairman Regier, Under the usual terms, I have distributed your sheep to the Nogais as follows: thirty-six old ewes and seven ewe lambs to Dshuma

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Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

Keldakalko from Uebe; thirty-five old sheep and eight lambs to Kuscp Matashev from Dschotsheret; and thirty-five old ewes and eight lambs to Koshale Barteleish from Dshotsheret. In total, I transferred over one hundred and six old ewes and twenty-three ewe lambs to the above mentioned three Nogais. I have promised them another twenty-nine old ewes within eight days so that each Nogai householder will then be in possession of a total of forty-five old ewes. 29. Johann Cornies to Jacob Reimer. 27 October 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/53v. Dear friend Jacob Reimer, I have selected the messengers bearing this communication, Nogais Tangat from Akkerman and Oshobai from lower Burkut, as good householders to receive fifty ewes from you. On your account, I released two rams to them today to accompany the one hundred ewes to be received from you. Each ram cost thirty-five rubles for a total of seventy rubles. Another ram is still required to complete your flock at a price of thirtyfive rubles. I hope you will be pleased. I hereby request that you release the one hundred sheep I promised these Nogais (fifty each). I enclose the written requests that should enable you to write the contracts accordingly. Adieu. Your friend, Johann Cornies 30. Johann Cornies to Neufeldt. 18 November 1836. SAOR 89-1-388/54. To esteemed Mayor Neufeldt in Muensterberg, Thank you for your attention to the antiquities sent to me. Although they may have no actual value here, they could possibly provide illumination for people able to decipher the vague prehistory of this region. If other antiquities, pots, little pieces of iron and other similar objects are found in the soil in your village in future, I would request that they not be thrown away, insignificant though they may seem. Please have them forwarded to me. If things of value are found in future, the finders should be remunerated. With a greeting, I remain your friend, Johann Cornies.

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31. Molochnaia Mennonite District Office to Inspector Khariton Pelekh. 25 November 1836. SAOR 89-1-367/4.11 Excerpt from remarks made by the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office about improving the prosperity of Molochnaia Mennonite villages, submitted to Inspector Pelekh on 25 November 1836. The total number of master craftsmen practicing crafts in this District is 526. Of these, 275 possess a fullholding with sixty-five desiatinas of land per family in addition to following their handicraft, while 251 do not have a fullholding and occupy themselves exclusively with their handicrafts and trades. Because these latter artisans live scattered around the District and do not have sufficient resources to purchase materials and keep a ready supply of their products on hand, they only produce work when it is ordered from them. It is, moreover, of no great advantage for an artisan to keep a supply of products on hand when the great extent of the District makes it difficult for buyers to know that a product answering to their needs is available for sale from one or another of the artisans. Maintaining a supply of finished products and advertising them for sale also robs artisans of their time and is costly for them. Another problem is that artisans are too distant from the raw materials required for their work. Wasting time looking for materials, they often have to hire horses and wagons to take them around in search of these or keep their own horses and wagons ready for this purpose. Agriculturalists, too, experience great disadvantages when artisans live scattered throughout the District. Most craftsmen practice their craft only moderately well and produce work accordingly. Agriculturalists waste much time and expense in finding the best artisans, and are often compelled to buy items for their work from an artisan living nearby. The result is considerable expense and poor workmanship.

11 SAOR 89-1-367, only indirectly part of Johann Cornies’ correspondence, includes submissions and correspondence regarding the establishment of an artisans’ village at Halbstadt, which eventually became Neuhalbstadt. Its establishment was finally approved by the authorities in late 1841. Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499.

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There are also disadvantages when many apprentices receive onesided, defective basic training from artisans, a majority of whom learned their craft only moderately well themselves, and are unsuited to teach boys apprenticed to them to the level demanded by their crafts. The above points summarize the disadvantages for existing artisans as well as for all inhabitants in this district that result from a scattering of artisans around the District. The goal of having a group of artisans well-trained and strong enough to improve their own livelihoods while providing better and cheaper products for their clients could be met by settling a portion of the artisan class in one location. This would encourage many to improve their products that could be sold more easily while enabling agriculturalists to better and more cheaply fill their own needs. Apprentices would benefit from better teaching if they were able to learn from other masters who also understand the craft. Under such circumstances artisans would naturally obtain a better knowledge of the differences inherent in the materials needed for their craft and pass this understanding along to their apprentices. Also, they would not have to transport their own necessities of life from distant places, since agriculturalists could deliver them to their homes at lower prices, especially if a weekly market day were introduced in the artisans’ settlement. The best location in our District for such a settlement is likely the village of Halbstadt. The village is already the centre of communications for both the Molochnaia Mennonite and [German] colonist districts and serves as an administrative and commercial centre. Here are located the District Office, brandy, beer and vinegar vendors, a cloth factory, several dye houses, and several companies trading in various raw materials. Artisans could obtain their materials close to where they live and not have to keep a large supply of them in reserve. To encourage the founding of such a settlement and its rapid growth and prosperity, each artisan-settler should be given three desiatinas of land [in Halbstadt] for a dwelling, a garden and pasture for a milk cow. He would be required to pay land taxes to the crown equal to what is required of land-owners. If some 200 artisans comprised the population of such a village (a smaller number would probably be too few), some 600 desiatinas of land would be needed. This amount could easily be partitioned off from the existing land of Halbstadt village which might be recompensed for this loss from surplus crown lands of the local community sheep-farm. Indeed, this latter land would be preferable for the

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1836

Halbstadt fullholders since it includes a ravine where livestock watering places presently lacking could be created. 32. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 26 December 1836. SAOR 89-1-367/8.12 Dear Cornies, I received your letters of 31 October and 10 November with great pleasure and am very pleased that you have not forgotten me. I am deeply indebted to you for your description of the Nogai village of Akkerman.13 I had it translated into Russian and would like to use it with our Kalmyk gentlemen in the hope of perhaps awakening among them some thoughts [about the future]. I doubt, however, that this will happen, but a try will not hurt. Some of their houses are in so dismal a condition that they must be aware of the need to grasp measures to improve their critical situation. Your proposal to establish a sheep-farm in this region is not, I think, a bad one. Were it to thrive it could provide advantages for the local inhabitants and your partners. I do, however, question whether it would be possible to reach an agreement regarding land with the Moravian Brethren [at Sarepta]. They seem too slow, too miserly and too undecided to bring something like this into existence without the greatest difficulty. We will await their answer. Should their demands be excessive or they even reject your proposal, there are other means to accomplish so useful an idea. There is Kalmyk land with good water and pasture adjacent to Sarepta, only six verstas away. It belongs to a young nobleman with whom one can do business, although he does not know how to go about using his own land. Your son knows about the land and also knows him a little. Once you receive an answer from Sarepta, I can discuss renting the nobleman’s land to establish a sheep-farm, should that be your wish. All Kalmyk land is under our

12 Cornies pursued the idea of founding a sheep farm in or near the Moravian Brethren community of Sarepta for two years before abandoning the project. See TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 32, 51, 77, 84, 86. 13 Regarding Cornies efforts to establish a model village at Akkerman, see John R. Staples, “‘On Civilising the Nogais’: Mennonite-Nogai Economic Relations, 1825–1860,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 74, no. 2 (Apr. 2000): 229–56, and TSUS, vol. II, docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610.

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guardianship and permission must be obtained from Petersburg. That would be better for you and more assured if this project were to come into existence. I regret that there is not enough time to receive your reply before I leave for Petersburg. I will, however, use this opportunity to inform them of the advantages the Kalmyks would gain from an agreement with you. Perhaps you could rent land from Sarepta for the sheep-farm itself and the pastureland from the Kalmyks. I do think that the latter arrangement will be cheaper and more cooperative than with the civilized Moravians. I hereby send you a small package of fresh cotton seeds. You are probably familiar with the way cotton is planted. I wish you much luck with this new experiment on your plantation. The total absence of proper, orderly agricultural villages in this region is one of the greatest obstacles to promoting a Kalmyk transition from a nomadic to a sedentary life. If the Nogais were not continuously aware of the [development of the] Mennonite settlements, Akkerman would not exist on the Molochnaia steppe. A settlement of two or three dozen Mennonites on the Kalmyk steppe, not too far from Sarepta, might be very useful. What do you think of this? Might there be individuals inclined to take on such a task among your brethren on the Molochnaia (but only orderly and worthy people)? It must be understood that improved sheep-breeding would be their main business. Three to five years free of taxes could be negotiated for them, and the 700 versta journey would not be too difficult. The Ministry has summoned me to Petersburg and I plan to depart 10 January. I assume I will, at the very least, be away for several months. Please write to me in Petersburg. Your letter of 4 December has just arrived. Many thanks for your friendly wishes. Stay healthy and your whole family with you. Your eternal and constant friend, A. Fadeev. 33. Forestry Society to village offices. 29 December 1836. SAOR 89-l-413/2. To village offices in the first section [Revier], In accordance with established rules, village offices are hereby ordered to correctly enter in their planting registers all forest-trees planted by each fullholder every autumn. They should also be listed in the records sent to this Society. Every village office must ensure that strict accuracy is observed in this matter, in accordance with

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No. 13 of the rules of order. These rules are to be included in every register. Forestry Society at Ohrloff, Chairman Johann Cornies 34. Forestry Society to village offices. 30 December 1836. SAOR 89-1-413/1.14 To village offices, The enclosed overview of all twenty-one [village] forest-tree plantations established in the first and second sections [Reviers] is being sent to village offices so that an accurate copy can be made and to provide information for all fullholders in each village. After every village office has copied this overview, it must be sent along without the slightest delay and returned to this Society from Margenau by 20 January 1837.

14 SAOR 89-1-413 contains multiple copies of this overview, including a chart for each village, then a page listing the best plantings, and a list of mulberry plantations, etc.

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35. District Office to village offices. January 1837. SAOR 89-1-464/2. Directive to all village offices: On his inspection tour of villages in this district, Deputy Chairman Toews observed a number of objectionable situations that he reported to the District Office on 22 October. The District Office, having concluded that such situations should be removed and our villages improved, hereby sends the following urgent orders to village offices: 1. All fences along streets and around front gardens of fullholdings and cottages that are missing or in poor condition should, without fail, be rebuilt in an orderly fashion by next spring or as soon as weather conditions allow, especially in villages that are more than ten years old. It should be noted that fences of woven brushwood are not permitted along streets. Where such brushwood fences already exist, a ditch of the required dimensions should be dug beside the fence and along the street. It is, however, preferable that such brushwood fences be removed entirely and replaced with wooden fences. All yards lacking a gate must be fitted with one. Results should be reported to the District Office at the appropriate time. 2. Chimneys built of wood after the date when brick construction was required, must be taken down and rebuilt with fired bricks this coming spring. No exceptions are allowed. Village offices are ordered to send a report to the District Office by 1 December, listing the names of all inhabitants who have built wooden chimneys following the above-mentioned order.

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

3. Ashes dumped near the street, in gardens and in front yards are not only unsightly but can occasion fires. An order is therefore issued for the construction of special masonry receptacles with earthen roofs behind buildings, far from straw and other flammable materials. Village offices should give special attention to the completion of such ash containers or at least to the digging of deep pits in the ground by April 1837. Village offices should also, by that date, submit a detailed report to the District Office regarding the preparation of such containers or pits and who, by name, has failed to do so. Moreover, when colonial officials or district Elders make their inspection tours of the villages, ashes should no longer be visible along streets and in front yards. 4. According to a directive of the District Office of 21 March, as noted in the journal of regulations, all houses, and other such buildings ten years or older were to have been whitewashed and tidy by 10 April. This directive has not been generally followed and is therefore repeated. All dwellings, smithies, storehouses, barns, etc. built of air-dried bricks or clay should be whitewashed twice annually during the months of April and August, using whitewash or, preferably, lime. Homeowners should be strongly encouraged in this regard in order that buildings become more durable and the whole village present a much more attractive appearance. 5. Village offices should be sternly admonished to insist that all livestock carcasses (carrion) be removed and buried in places especially designated for this purpose. These should be distant from buildings, streets and paths to ensure that dogs do not drag their bones around. This directive relating to the above-mentioned intolerable situations is to be read to the assembled village community by its village officers at frequent intervals and recorded in the journal of regulations. Should anyone insolently act against these regulations intended to improve and advance the general well-being of the community, village offices should immediately report them to the the District Office by name. The latter should take appropriate measures to ensure compliance. This order must be entered into the journal of regulations. Village offices are required to report to the District Office which measures have been taken to publicize these regulations. District Office in Halbstadt, January 1837

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36. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 2 January 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/2. Honoured Mr. Blueher, I received your valued communications of 29 September and 8 December 1836. I can also report that the local District Office has sent me a payment of 20,000 rubles for the wool that I forwarded to you for sale last year. The package of books that you sent me have arrived and I have dealt with them as you requested. Please send me twenty-five copies of the bible stories on my account. I would also request that you subscribe to the agricultural newspapers for one year, on my account, and have them sent to my address. Many thanks for your assistance. The health of our community is generally distressing. There is talk of sickness in almost every house and most people suffer from the same illness. Even my dear wife is ill and confined to bed, although she is beginning to improve. Our son and daughter, on the other hand, are well and strong. The former has his hands full surveying the villages. This keeps him busy and away from home. The latter is looking after the housekeeping. Both retain warm memories of your valued family. May God grant that they never forget your great benevolence on their behalf. When I find a suitable opportunity in Kharkov, I will have a small barrel of butter and a crate containing two round Dutch cheeses and five small Limburg cheeses sent to you. My son requests that one of the two large Dutch cheeses be delivered to Mr. Ekkert with a friendly greeting. As for the other products, my wife and I would ask you to accept them as a gift of friendship and love. The Limburg cheeses are the product of cows my son bought in your area and sell for 820 kopeks apiece. Do you think that there might be a market for them in Moscow? What price might they fetch? Moved by a sincere and warmhearted love and at the start of a New Year, I send you our heartfelt wishes that our all-bountiful God might protect and keep you and your beloved family in the New Year and grant you good health, strength and joy. Should your life be blessed with continued well-being, it would accomplish the wishes of our family and reflect the love and kind trust that we have so often received from you.

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Commending myself and my wife most earnestly to your best wishes, I am pleased to remain, with sincerest esteem, your faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 37. Johann Cornies to Caspar Adrian Hausknecht. 14 January 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/6. Valued friend Hausknecht, Every person has been granted his own individual nature and mode of behaviour and must act accordingly. These he must follow calmly and in moderation without paying heed to the storms raging around him. Your letter of 12 January requests an advance of 800 rubles for your journey to Prussia. Even though I possess more than this sum, I have various obligations here that I understand better than anyone else and that do not permit me to make outside advances. I think, too, that you might obtain such an advance for your journey as easily there as you could from me, especially since local people know your circumstances. It would also have been reasonable for you to have taken into account your failure to settle your debt with me, money borrowed several years ago. You might, at the very least, have spoken to me about the debt or written to me fairly and honourably and paid the accrued interest, as is demanded of every honourable person with a sense of duty and with the noble esteem essential in every human society. A loan is a form of charity and it is only right that the borrowed amount be returned at a specific time. In my view, a person who borrows money on the assumption that the creditor can look after himself better than the debtor can, and also does not require the amount borrowed as urgently as the debtor does, is not acting as a Christian and does not deserve Christian charity. I feel it is necessary to remind you of these things out of kindness and honesty and with an open and sincere spirit. I am not indifferent to you or to anyone else, but you need guidance. Best wishes. Give my greetings to your family as your honestly concerned friend, Johann Cornies. 38. Traugott Blueher to Johann Cornies. 26 January 1837. SAOR 89-1-426/54. Beloved friend Cornies, To begin with, it gives me special pleasure to send you and your dear family my greetings for the New Year and wish all of you our dear

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Lord’s blessings as we take another step on our journey toward our heavenly home. Let us embrace this fact as we stand daily in the most sincere communion with our Saviour. Enclosed, you will find my final accounting of 11,000 paper rubles for the Spanish wool you sent me, as well as for several other items. I thank you for your trust in me, bestowed in friendship. Please excuse my delay in completing this business matter. It was occasioned by the manufacturer who stayed in the background with his earlier offer. That too was not his fault but a result of the circumstances of these difficult times that have led to extremely slow trade during the last few months. Roads were bad, without enough snow for sledding, and this caused a major breakdown of all communications. When the roads were finally restored, a flood of field crops drove prices down to a level not previously seen: eg. oats, four to four and a half kopeks per chetvert, buckwheat groats eight to nine kopeks and rye flour seventy to seventy five kopeks per pud. When many refused to sell at such prices the shortage of money simply worsened. Meanwhile, prices have risen only forty percent and our monetary stagnation lingers on. Circumstances have also affected the wool markets. At the present, only ordinary Russian wool is in demand abroad at earlier prices. Demand is flat for all other varieties, and owners with fine wool would gladly sell, even at a loss. I am also pleased to acknowledge the receipt of your dear letter of 2 January. I thank you graciously for your friendly wishes and commend myself to your further loving remembrance. Please, in particular, accept my family’s thanks for your kind gifts. As we enjoy them, they will continue to remind us of your dear children. I will send you twenty-five copies of bible stories and also arrange for a continuation of a subscription to the agricultural newspapers. Since you have probably not received my letter of 27 October, I am forwarding a copy to you. I must mention another subject. Among the last interrupted communications of the late Mr. Johannes Caltanco, there was confirmation of a one-year loan of 1000 paper rubles to Ernst Walter in Kostheim settlement, dated 1 November 1835.1 Caltanco had received a bond for this sum, which must be either with Mr. Klassen, cloth manufacturer or with Mr. Martens. Since Mr. Caltanco’s survivors have been left in needy circumstances, I urge you to provide any

1

Regarding Cornies’ unsuccessful efforts to help with Caltanco’s debtors, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 38, 42, 48, 57.

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assistance you can in collecting this amount plus interest. Although the debtor may well be unable to pay at this time, it may be advisable to repeat my request to him. Kindly take pity in this situation and send me some information. Friendly greetings to you and your dear family, your honest friend, Traugott Blueher. Received 14 February 1837. Answered 22 February 1837. 39. Johann Cornies to District Office. 27 January 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/7v. To the District Office in Halbstadt, I have a threshing machine on my sheep farm in Iushanle that was built for me only two years ago. I threshed my whole harvest with it twice, but it is not strong enough to be worked by day labourers and does not serve my needs. For these reasons, this machine is now for sale at a much reduced price of 500 silver rubles, cash. I would ask that the District Office advertise this offer in the Molochnaia Mennonite and Molochnaia [German] Colonist Districts until 1 March. Dirk Wiens, manager on my sheep-farm will show the machine to interested persons at any time. Payment can also be made to Wiens, if the interested buyer purchases it for no less than 500 rubles. Johann Cornies. 40. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 28 January 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/11v.2 Mr. Fadeev, Your Honour, Gracious State Counsellor, Yr. Honour’s heartfelt interest in the well-being of the Molochnaia Mennonite community encourages me to submit a report to you about developments in our community since May 1836, and about arrangements that have been made to improve it morally and economically. Last spring seemed to be a time of great fruitfulness. Trees were heavy with buds and promised much fruit. Grain sprouted vigorously,

2 By summing up activities in 1836 for Fadeev, Cornies here provides an early example of what would become his future annual reports.

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and grass grew quickly and luxuriantly. But late in April, two severe night frosts destroyed all of our hopes. Frost totally ruined the buds and young shoots that had sprouted on the trees. Much of our grain froze, particularly barley, and lay on the fields like dry hay. Persistent drought caused us to anticipate a total crop failure. May, however, with its generous and scattered showers, where these occurred, helped the grain and grass to recover. The villages along the Molochnaia got most of the May rains, especially those from Altonau to Schoensee. They had a splendid harvest. Markedly less was harvested from Ohrloff to Rueckenau. The harvest was poor along the Iushanle, where drought prevented the grass from recovering and the grain was arrested in its growth, producing only small kernels. But thank God that everything turned out so well and that everyone has enough bread grains and livestock fodder for the year. The District’s total wheat harvest came to roughly 6,000 chetverts that sold at ten to twelve rubles per chetvert. Potatoes became a substitute for a great deal of food and fodder. Some 14,024 chetverts of potatoes were harvested despite the drought suffered in approximately half of the District. A little more than 13,000 puds of wool were transported to the wool market in Romen and sold at an average price of forty-two to fortythree rubles per pud. Locally, the price was thirty-eight to forty rubles. The community [sheep farm’s] wool sold in Moscow at eighty-two rubles, mine at seventy-six rubles. My wool sold at a lower price than that of the community because it was impossible for me to do the shearing immediately after the washing. I had to delay that activity five days longer than I should have. During this time, sweat again worked its way into the wool, soiling it. Otherwise, according to Mr. Blueher’s report, my wool would have fetched the very highest price paid in Moscow. The price for ordinary varieties of sheep was high last year, eighteen to twenty rubles for ewes, ten to twelve rubles for wethers. Cattle prices were fifty to sixty rubles for a Russian cow, 200 rubles and higher for a pair of oxen. Horses sold at their normal prices, but there was not much of a market for them. Extremely dry conditions in summer were succeeded by wet autumn weather and the soil was well moistened by thick fogs and continuing, widespread rains. Our winter is mild, with little snow. Twelve to fourteen degrees of frost lasted only a few days. Winter grains are growing splendidly but there is no demand for rye, of which there are considerable supplies in the District.

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The Agricultural Society has decided that, within two years, a regular four-field management system will be introduced. All cultivated fields will be divided into four equal parts, three of which will be seeded. The fourth part will remain fallow, planted with potatoes. Grain production will be increased by these means, and potato cultivation extended. Should 30,000 chetverts of potatoes be grown in the District, then 10,000 chetverts of grain fodder alone will be saved. Even at a low estimate of five rubles per chetvert, this could provide 50,000 rubles of income for the District. The Society’s second objective is to increase flax cultivation. At present only 350 puds of flax are cultivated in the District, despite the fact that at least 2,000 puds are needed. Consequently it is necessary to buy 1,650 puds of flax and almost 25,000 rubles leave the community, estimated at a price of fifteen rubles per pud. The situation is even more disadvantageous for our community, since we buy much of what we require in the form of finished linen, not as flax to be manufactured into linen locally. Thus, our losses could be as high as 50,000 rubles, since many hands now idle in winter could find useful activity if the required flax were cultivated, spun and manufactured into linen here in the District. Nineteen earth dams were constructed last year in places where they caused flood waters that improved our hay meadows. In future, dams will be constructed across all rivers and ravines to improve the productivity of low-lying areas. The hay harvest could be doubled and the hay crop would not fail so easily. Some of the improved hay meadows, moreover, could be used for flax cultivation. Last year, the Forestry Society made every effort to have the eighteen plantations of the first section [Revier] completely deep-ploughed and also ensured that progress was made in forest tree planting. Mulberry hedges were established around a number of orchards in this section and enclosing hedges were started around the plantations themselves. In the three plantations of the second section, three parts of each plantation were deep-ploughed and forest tree planting has made progress. In the seven forest-tree plantations of the third section, the first quarters are deep-ploughed and planting has begun. The six forest tree plantations in the fourth section have prepared their first quarters for deep-ploughing this year and enclosed them on two sides with the prescribed ditches. The fifth section will lay out five plantations this year and, with this, the whole Molochnaia Mennonite District will have thirty-nine forest tree plantations, in five sections.

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It is regrettable that the Society receives such small, sparse quantities of forest-tree seeds for distribution to planters. This makes speedy progress in planting very difficult and it has become a drawn-out affair. Last autumn the Society was not able to obtain even one lot of seeds for distribution to settlers, naturally resulting in many disadvantages and delays and significantly discouraging planters in their endeavours. To promote orchard cultivation, fullholders and cottagers last year prepared setting trenches of the required size to plant 14,000 fruit trees. Such preparations, in future, will proceed annually. There has been a marked increase in the seeding of fruit seeds in tree nurseries contained within orchards. A sufficient number of improved fruit trees to cover our own needs can with certainty be expected within a few years. There will also be a considerably larger number of fruit trees available for sale to outsiders. My son is involved in the surveying and regulation of hearth-sites in the villages that determine the areas for fruit trees and yards and make it possible to prepare special maps. In the next few days he will complete sketches of seven villages. A short overview of all the planting in the Molochnaia Mennonite District shows the following. The thirty-four existing forest-tree plantations consist of 369 desiatinas of land. Of this area, 228 desiatinas, 1574 sazhen have been deep-ploughed, 35 desiatinas, 7 sazhen have been planted and 59,973 forest trees and 24,264 mulberry trees are growing, for a total of 84,227 [sic] trees. In addition to these community plantations, there are another 73,966 forest trees of all varieties and 7,548 mulberry trees in a variety of spots in the District, for a total of 81,514 trees on 33 desiatinas 2,314 sazhens in private plantations. In nurseries there are 487,957 forest trees and 92,262 mulberry trees, in total 580,213 [sic] trees on 3 desiatinas. In orchards belonging to settlers there are 133,773 fruit trees of different varieties on 222 desiatinas, 2,819 sazhens. There are a further 124,701 improved and unimproved fruit trees in nurseries on 3 desiatinas 189 sazhens of land. They are to be used by fullholders and cottagers to establish orchards at their dwelling-places. Planting will be done on 1,341 desiatinas of land, of which 222 desiatinas, 2,214 sazhens have been completed. Because only four puds, eleven lot of silk were produced in the whole District, no one can yet support himself by sericulture. There are also only 189 vines in the entire District. The cost of pursuing these operations over the last three years involved the expenditure of the following amounts of money: 2,194

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rubles to obtain and repair deep ploughs; 938 rubles for journals, gardening newspapers and books, and to prepare topographic sketches and maps; 1,533 rubles for forest-tree seeds, carrying charges, etc.; 586 rubles for office expenses in the Society’s operations, for a total of 5,222 rubles. Villages in this District are generally tidier and more orderly than they once were. On the whole, the inhabitants are more industrious and diligent, showing a greater love of order. The District Office is endeavouring to improve all shoddily-built structures, roads and bridges. The post road along the Molochnaia deserves particular mention. Much work has been expended to make it smoother. Using clay soil, the District Office arranged to have the road through Muensterberg village turned into a major road for 300 faden [1800 feet], or as far as the blowing sand extended, which required 25,000 loads of clay. There is now no trace of blowing sand at Muensterberg. Athough only seven have been completed, the well-proportioned versta markers make this road very attractive. The other twenty-six markers will be produced during the coming year. As a general rule, the District Office is endeavouring to give preference to orderly arrangements within its villages and to promote industry among its inhabitants. Measures have also been taken to advance morality. Some results are already evident. A number of schools have been improved through the hiring of better school teachers, and there is now competition among school teachers and pupils to provide better instruction that is more easily understandable. In addition to the Ohrloff Society School, there is another such [secondary] school in Steinbach with teacher Voth, one in Gnadenfeld with teacher Franz, and one in Schoensee, with teacher Fast, who arrived this year. The school in the District Office has twenty-five pupils under the direction of teacher Neufeld. All schools within the District were examined by the church ministers before the New Year and school teachers were encouraged in the performance of their duties. In short, measures to promote the moral and economic improvement of the population are evident generally. Only Yr. Honour’s support is lacking that would help to maintain and continue these beginnings, ensuring their establishment on a firm foundation. District Chairman Regier left for Odessa last week. Chairman Penner from Einlage, whose late wife died in autumn, is engaged to a widow in Muensterberg. He is thinking of leaving Einlage and settling

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permanently here on the Molochnaia. This is a boon for the Molochnaia community and a comparable loss for Khortitsa. The Ohrloff church will be rebuilt from the ground up this year in a completely new, tasteful design. Some 3,000 rubles have been set aside to purchase the first materials needed. Last summer, a number of beautiful buildings were built in various parts of the District and more will be built during the coming year. Manufacturer Johann Klassen’s extension has been confirmed for five years and he should be able to make good progress in Halbstadt. It is most regrettable that his oldest son died early last spring, while his second son, who managed the dye works, died recently. Martens is healthy and Peter Toews from Ladekopp married a widow from Tiege. Otherwise, everything is as it was. The Radishchev Mennonites have not yet received approval to move their settlement to the Tashchenak.3 While he is in Odessa, the District Chairman will use his influence to obtain approval for their resettlement. Should these poor people receive the desired approval from higher authorities, we will do our utmost to assist them in establishing their economic arrangements on an orderly basis and in improving their morality. We have almost recovered from the years of crop failure in 1833 and 1834. The total debt remaining is 24,000 rubles and it will be repaid this spring. The Melitopol Uezd will be divided into two districts in all probability. Molochnaia will be the border between the two districts. Orekhov will cease to be the district centre and Nogaisk and Novoaleksandrovka4 (Kisliar) will be set up as district centres instead. The Mennonites would belong to Nogaisk and the [German] colonists to Novoaleksandrovka. The new villages Gnadenfeld and Waldheim, the latter consisting of Mennonites from Volhynia, are developing quite attractively. I have just been notified that Wilhelm Martens is suffering from his old attacks of hypochondria. With true respect and the deepest esteem, I have the honour to be Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies.

3 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707. 4 Novoaleksandrovka is today the city of Melitopol.

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41. Johann Cornies to District Office. 12 February 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/8v. To the District Office in Halbstadt, I have received your communication No. 465 of 10 February (a copy of No. 283 to Inspector Pelekh from the Ekaterinoslav Lower Court of January 24), and also thirty eight rubles forty kopeks collected from the Deev settlers Martin Gurshenko and Kusma Tichonenko (also known as Voronenko), who left my service before the end of their agreed-upon term of service. I hereby notify the honourable District office about this matter, Johann Cornies. 42. Johann Cornies to Wilhelm Martens and Johann Klassen. 15 February 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/8v.5 Dearest friends, A letter or some other paper covering a loan naming a certain Mr. Caltanco in Moscow was reportedly given to one of you by Ernst Walter in Kohlheim. According to this document, the latter is supposed to have borrowed 1000 rubles cash from the former. I request that you let me know as soon as possible whether there is any foundation to this report. 43. Johann Cornies to Wilhelm Frank. 19 February 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/20.6 Honoured Mr. Frank, Odessa, Although we have not exchanged letters for a number of years, I now have occasion to renew our correspondence by burdening you with a matter, on the assumption that old friendships never rust. I believe you will not decline the following request. As in previous years, our local Society for plantings anticipates approval of our proposal to the Curator regarding our plan of operations for this year. This would permit the Society to make timely arrangements. However, I have now learned

5 6

Regarding Cornies’ unsuccessful efforts to help with Caltanco’s debtors, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 38, 42, 48, 57. Wilhelm Frank was a Guardianship Committee translator. He and Cornies corresponded regularly in the 1820s – see TSUS, vol. 1.

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from District Chairman Regier that all papers sent in by the Society must be translated into Russian before they can receive approval. Since this work will naturally not be given to anyone other than yourself, I would graciously request that you, esteemed Mr. Frank, extend to us your gracious kindness by translating them as quickly as possible. In this way the Society would be able to begin its operations when spring arrives. Convinced that you will not respond negatively to our imposition, I remain with all esteem and respect, your devoted friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 44. District Office and Agricultural Society to Church Elders. 22 February 1837. SAOR 89-1-415A/7. [Draft]: Honourable Elders Benjamin Ratzlaff, Wilhelm Lange, Peter Wedel & Bernhard Fast, From the District Office in association with the Society, We have definitely been informed that directives circulated by the District Office and the Society referring to your proposal and to the demand that members of your congregations be made subject to punishment for disobedience, have themselves become the cause for disobedience because of evil intentions expressed by members of this community. A detailed description of an incident and of the nature of the punishment was forwarded to you under the signatures of three members of the District Office, but it is a grossly distorted account. It was presumptuous and shameful to describe the District Office and the Society as rejoicing that they could now deal arbitrarily and unscrupulously with every community member without forbearance and proceed arrogantly and without compassion. According to these documents, the District Office members no longer care about the foundation of their confession of faith and are therefore tyrants, forsaken by God. Honourable Elders, we are disinclined to justify ourselves against nefarious slanderers. Their actions already provide sufficient evidence that they neither understand the foundation of their confession of faith nor want to understand it. Otherwise, they would follow it more carefully and consider it sinful to conduct themselves in such an obstinate and disobedient way against community members, its church teachers and even its Elders who have been called by God through the community. They should seek to adorn their communities

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with blameless conduct and be more concerned with the salvation of their own souls. Although we were required to inform the community of your conduct through circulated directives, this gave us no pleasure. Despite the distortions in what you have written, and the slanders and incitements that had already been circulated before we made it public, we thought it better to publicize this matter more broadly in order to inform individuals who think more seriously about such matters. This was our motive in sending out the circulars in question that agree with the intentions of your proposal. With these lines, without any underhandedness, we simply declare to you, honourable Elders, that nothing is more important to us, firmer, more faithful or more exalted than following the foundation of our confession of faith. We would like to demonstrate this with our deeds. It would be absurd if our words were to justify us more than our deeds. For this reason, we can declare calmly, with sincere joy, that it is of no consequense to us if we are judged by humans. It is the Lord who will judge us. He sees and knows our intentions. With these sincere feelings we also remain obedient to you, honourable Elders. 45. District Office and Forestry Society to village offices. Undated draft. SAOR 89-1-415A/9. To village offices: This letter is occasioned by a report of the most startling nature that seriously dishonours the honourable Elder of the Gnadenfelder congregation, the honourable Wilhelm Lange. It is rumoured that the honourable Elder Lange has torn up three directives from the Society for the Dissemination of Forest-tree, Orchard, Silk and Wine Cultivation in order to assert his claim for respect. The honourable Elder does not demand atonement for the insults to which he has been subjected, or the dishonour done to his office. Instead, with great affliction, he simply expresses sorrow over the great deterioration within the local community. The District Office and the Society, however, feel duty bound to draw the attention of all inhabitants, without exception, to the fact that the District Office and Society will from henceforward vindicate everyone’s honour and guard it carefully. Insults or fabrications that soil the honour of individuals seem to have become a part of daily conversation and custom in the community

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and must be halted through the meting out of punishments. Not only have members of the community been sorely depressed by the spreading of lies, but great damage has been inflicted upon the whole community that has received a bad reputation in the eyes of the authorities. Fabrications about people in authority are not only false but have been repeated by members of the community from whom one would have expected more. Starting today, the District Office and Society will take a most severe position against all slanders and wantonly offensive falsifications that are meant to damage the reputation of any person and have been brought to the attention of the District Office or Society members. Every effort will be made to apprehend such offenders and undertake investigations leading to their punishment as an example to others and for their improvement. The whole community will be notified accordingly. From henceforward everyone must take note of a person from whom he hears such calumnies. Anyone who cannot declare that he has not behaved in this way will be considered as the fabricator of the false rumour in question. Village offices are responsible for enforcing this circular and must inform all inhabitants accordingly, in order that no one can claim ignorance as an excuse for their behaviour. Every village mayor must have this circular copied into the village journal of regulations. He should not keep it longer than six hours and then send it on [to the next village on the list]. Also, the times of arrival and departure of the circular are to be noted on the accompanying page and the circular is to be returned from the last address to the District Office without delay. 46. Johann Cornies to David Epp. 11 February 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/22v. Honourable David Epp in Khortitsa, Beloved friend, I received your esteemed letter of 8 February 1837 and, as you requested, answer quickly. I would have liked to offer you an advance of 2,000 rubles, but I think that this is impossible because of unanticipated situations that have arisen for me. Indeed, I doubt that I will be able to advance money to individuals for the next several years, especially for the wool trade. For advances, the loan period is [now] no longer than four months. Anything beyond this term will depend on how much money is in my possession at the time in question. Should my

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situation change, I may of course decide otherwise. Do not interpret my reply unkindly, but be assured that I am willing to help as I am able to. Your honest friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 47. Johann Cornies to Wilhelm Zacharias. 22 February 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/23.7 Wilhelm Zacharias in Neu Osterwik Dear Friend, In responding to your letter of 18 February, I must inform you that I cannot offer cash advances to any outsiders this spring. There has recently been a flight of capital from the area that makes it difficult for me to meet the needs of local people for whom I have been making cash advances for several years. With a friendly greeting, I remain your friend Johann Cornies. 48. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 22 February 1837. SAOR 89-1-431/44.8 Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I report the receipt of 11,000 [11/m] rubles banco assignat, together with the enclosed letter and document. I enclose a receipt for the wool business we have conducted during the past year and thank you for your efforts and care on my behalf. The ten dozen sheep shears have been delivered in good order. Thank you for your kindness. In response to your request, I have written to Ernst Walther of Kostheim, presently living in Kerch in the Crimea, urgently requesting that he remit the thousand rubles borrowed from Mr. Caltanco on 1 November 1835 in return for a promissory note, plus the accrued interest. In response, I can report that I have sent him the promissory note currently held by Mr. Wilhelm Martens (it is already in my hands). I might mention that I think we would be lucky if Walther were to pay off these thousand [1/m] rubles since the promissory note is a rudimentary

7

Several other letters with similar content appear in SAOR 89-1-432 – for example, SAOR 89-1-432/25v to Gerhard Braun, Novo Osterwik. 8 Regarding Cornies’ unsuccessful efforts to help with Caltanco’s debtors, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 38, 42, 48, 57.

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document written on a half page of ordinary paper. Walther could easily avoid paying off this debt were he to lack a conscience. Reporting the good health of everyone, I remain, with heartfelt greetings, your faithfully obliged friend and servant, Johann Cornies. Receipt: Receipt on 14 February 1837, for forty two thousand, two hundred and eighty rubles, twenty kopeks, together with a detailed accounting for the fifty nine balls of Spanish wool weighing six hundred and ninety five puds, sixteen funt net, sent to H.H.G.A. Soerenson in the Sarepta Trading Company in Moscow on 7 June 1836 for resale, is hereby certified with my signature in my own hand and with the impression of my seal. Ohrloff, 24 February 1837. Johann Cornies. 49. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 2 March 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/25. Yr. Honour, Gracious State Counsellor As a result of Yr. Honour’s kindness I received vines that grew very well in the vineyard of my Molochnaia estate last summer. To do some replanting and to expand the vineyard, I require a further five hundred vines that I would kindly ask you to send for payment. I would prefer rooted vines. For my part, I would commission someone from this area who will be travelling to Simferopol on his own business around 10 April to receive the vines and to make the required payment. However, should the season be too advanced to move the vines without causing damage to them (if the sap is already flowing). I would ask Yr. Honour to send the vines by mail. Our Society would by obliged if Yr. Honour could also send us mulberry seeds for the use of our villagers. With the appropriate respect and esteem, I have the honour to be Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 50. Johann Cornies to Madam Fadeev. 3 March 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/26. Gracious Lady Fadeevna, Your esteemed husband asked me to send you a few pounds of white acacia seeds in Astrakhan during the month of March. Regrettably, I am not in a position to do so. Last year spring frosts seriously damaged the blossoms in this region and there were no acacia seeds to harvest.

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Otherwise I would have been most willing to carry out this request. Should you be able to use my services in any other way, I would be most obliging. With the greatest devotion and esteem, I remain Your Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 51. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 4 March 1837. SAOR 89-1-432 /26v. Dear brother Heinrich, Ekaterinoslav, In addition to wishing you all the best and our love, I would ask you to purchase eight or ten good, green morocco leather hides for me, like the ones you obtained last year when Fast visited you. They are to be used to upholster chairs. Ask Klassen’s people to advance the money for this transaction that I will repay once I receive your notice regarding prices. Please ensure that they are of good leather and have permanent colour. Perhaps you can find someone who really knows how to do this. I would also request that you send me the bill for the sixty-six rubles I gave you to make various purchases on my behalf. I plan to travel to Sarepta in June and to lease a piece of land of about 10,000 desiatinas for at least ten years.9 Should this really come to pass, might you be interested in moving there to take over as manager and partner, on the basis of a definite part of the profit and loss, although you would not need to invest any money in the project at the start? You would live no more than eight verstas from quiet Sarepta with another two families. You could take part in worship services every Sunday and send your children to a good school. This offer is only provisional, but I would like your opinion about this matter now already. We are all quite healthy, thank God, and send greetings to all of you. May you fare well. Write to me. Adieu. Your loving brother Johann Cornies. 52. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 15 March 1837. SAOR 89-1-426/16. Dear Mr. Cornies, I will have the vines you want fetched from the nursery this week so that they do not sprout too early. I will probably not be here when your

9

Regarding the Sarepta project, see note 20 and TSUS, vol. 2, documents 32, 51, 77, 84, 86.

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messenger arrives but will leave appropriate orders with my gardener. In an earlier letter I asked you to notify me about prices for Spanish wool and sheep but have yet to receive an answer. State Counsellor Sipren informed me about your wishes for the Nogai village, but his letter arrived too late. Our local governor, Mr. Kosnartva, has left and his successor has not yet arrived. May you fare well. Your obedient C. Steven. Received 26 March. Answered 27 March 1837. 53. Peter Wiebe to Johann Cornies. 19 March 1837. SAOR 89-1-491/35. To Mr. Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, By chance I learned that, at the moment, you have no manager on your estate on the Tashchenak. Earnestly confident that you will not be offended at my inquiry, I would ask whether you need another manager. Should this be the case, I would be prepared to perform good and appropriate services for you on the above-mentioned estate. I remain, with esteem, your dutiful Peter Wiebe. Conteniusfeld, 19 March 1837. 54. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 26 March 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/29v. Dear brother Heinrich Cornies, In another letter to you today, I omitted the name of the brickmaker because I was unfamiliar with it. His name is Ignat Nikiforovich Chortkov. You might visit him and let him know that he can come here. With heartfelt greetings, your brother Johann Cornies. P.S. The ten leather hides sent with the letter of 10 March have been received and payment, as requested, has been remitted. 55. Johann Cornies to Dyck. 27 March 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/30. Dear friend Dyck in Muensterberg, In response to your request, I spoke with Deputy Chairman Toews about the publican in question and can report that I gave Toews your explanation of the event and asked him to advise me as to whether this matter with publican Reimer in Muensterberg could soon be concluded.

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Deputy Chairman Toews explained that publican Reimer’s situation has been concluded for now. He can keep the tavern as long as his conduct is generally good and he can sell brandy as well. In future, the public house will be taken from him only if there is reasonable proof that his conduct is not acceptable. Deputy Chairman Toews also told me that even though this matter had been concluded, the case of village Deputy Mayor Dyck had not. His conduct had been very rude. He had reportedly expressed improper remarks to the district administration, supposedly drumming on the desk with his fist. According to Section 2, n. 18 of the Directive, he will be reported to the colonial inspector as a disobedient person. It is my duty to report this to you since I promised I would, my friend. At the same time, I would offer you a word of friendly advice. Act with greater consideration, more deliberately, and pay more attention to your duties. Do not depend only on the support in your village. In the end, your whole village cannot help you whether they behave unjustly or not, since you alone are punishable. This is the practice in Russia and everywhere. He who sins must bear the consequences. The District Deputy Chairman explained to me that you had made yourself subject to punishment through what you said and because of your insulting behaviour toward the District Office. Try to lighten your punishment through pleas to the District Office, and do so quickly. However, act as you wish. I remain your friend, Johann Cornies. 56. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 27 March 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/31. Highly honoured State Counsellor Steven, I have received Yr. Honour’s esteemed communication dated 15 March. First I would like to thank you for your kindness in letting me have the five hundred rooted vines. This messenger will make payment for them. I did not receive the letter Yr. Honour mentioned, in which you requested information about prices for Spanish wool and sheep. At this date, no wool merchants have yet arrived in our area and local prices are therefore still unknown. I was, however, notified from Moscow that Spanish wool prices there had fallen and that sales were generally very weak. Common Russian wool, on the contrary, is finding buyers quickly and its price has remained steady because of a substantial demand

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from abroad. The prices for Spanish sheep are shockingly high. Old ewes of the usual kind sell for twenty to twenty-four rubles, yearling ewe lambs for fourteen to sixteen rubles, yearling wethers eight to nine rubles, with wool. I just sold old, three to four year wethers for eleven rubles per head without wool, to be delivered after shearing. With great esteem, I endeavour at all times to be Yr. Honour’s willing servant, Johann Cornies. 57. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 1 April 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/32.10 Most esteemed Mr. Blueher, The response I received from Ernst Walther on 31 March 1837 did not contain a remittance. I am unable to do anything further in this matter since, according to Walther, he does not acknowledge the debt of 1000 rubles, declaring the promissory note to be invalid. I will return all papers from Mr. Caltanco relating to these 1000 rubles to you. These include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Copy of Ernst Walther’s letter to me; Letter from Wilhelm Martens to me; Letter from Mr. Caltanco, Kharkov, to Wilhelm Martens, Halbstadt; Promissory note for 1000 rubles from Ernst Walther; Letter to Ernst Walther in Kerch from Mr. Caltanco, opened here.

Although all these documents clearly indicate that Ernst Walther still owes you 1000 rubles, the legal proof is missing. It could be different if Peter Reimer, at that time an associate of Caltanco, were still here. He would be able to attest to the basic truth of the matter and perhaps the extent to which Walther had settled his accounts. Because Reimer is now abroad, you might be able to contact him by writing to the merchant Mr. Johann Wiebe in Neuteich, West Prussia. He would surely find Mr. Peter Reimer (previously resident in Elbing, after which he lived on the Molochnaia for several years) to secure the declaration you require. As far as I know, Mr. Reimer is a truth loving, Christian man on whose statements one can rely.

10 Regarding Cornies’ unsuccessful efforts to help with Caltanco’s debtors, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 38, 42, 48, 57.

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With a friendly greeting, I commend myself to you as your graciously obligated friend and servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. Please send a hundred bible stories, if available. If you can, please send them to my brother in Ekaterinoslav by 1 September 1837. 58. Johann Cornies Jr. to Johann Cornies. 29 April 1837. SAOR 89-1-426/37. Most esteemed father, I write to let you know that I did not buy any twine in Kisliar because the price was sixteen rubles per pud. I questioned the Germans and they assured me that it could be bought much more cheaply from German merchants. Work has started on the dam but because the soil is quite wet and the sod very hard it is rising only slowly. The brick moulders started their work yesterday. Johann Dueck is withdrawing from all jobs except those at the mill, adamant that nothing more was in his agreement and that he would not allow himself to be used as an errand boy. I think a quick decision is needed. Neufeldt went out among the Nogais on Monday. With a filial greeting, I remain your devoted son, Johann Cornies. 59. Johann Cornies to unknown. 24 April 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/33v. Highly Honoured Sir, Since the date for the repayment of the 2500 rubles I loaned you has now come, I would ask Your Honour to repay this sum to my brother, Heinrich Cornies in Ekaterinoslav. I have given the promissory note for the above-mentioned loan that I will return to you once the 2500 rubles have been delivered. With great esteem and loyalty, I have the honour to be Yr. Honour’s loyal servant, Johann Cornies. 60. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 25 April 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/33v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Your valued communication of 30 March 1837 arrived here yesterday. It will be a pleasure for me to to purchase 800 puds of wool on your account for the lowest possible price. There has been little demand for wool thus

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far. Yesterday I sold my share of the wool from the sheep sharecropped with the Nogais for forty rubles per pud. I hope that I will be able to make the purchases for you more cheaply. Since my treasury has become somewhat depleted, I would be grateful if you could send me fifteen to twenty thousand rubles through the local District Office, to be forwarded to me. If you are unable to do this immediately by mail, I will still endeavour to carry out your business promptly and to your advantage, as before. Please sell the two packets of raw silk, items number E. & N., and prepare separate accounts for each. With greetings, I remain, in friendship as always, your willing friend and servant, Johann Cornies 61. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Dyck. 7 May 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/35v. Mr. Heinrich Dyck in Eigendorf near Dirschau in West Prussia, Beloved Brother-in-Law, I received your valued communication of 5 June 1836 and immediately informed the heirs of Cornelius Klassen about the commission you had included in it. They have authorized Gerhard Friesen to receive the money left to them and to sign the receipts. He is travelling to Prussia on a visit. I can also report that we are all in good health. To our genuine delight, last October saw the safe and healthy return of my children from their two-year journey to various parts of the Russian Empire. I have turned one of my estates over to my son’s management and Willmsen is employed there as business secretary. Our daughter is living with us in Ohrloff and supports her dear mother in the management of our household. This has been a very fruitful spring that fills us with hope for a harvest better than any in the past. We trust that these few lines find you and your dear wife and children in the best of health and remain with love, your honest friend and brother-in-law, Johann Cornies. 62. Johann Cornies Jr. to Manager of Molochnaia estate in Tashchenak. 8 May 1837. SAOR 89-1-429/41. The estate managment on the Molochnaia estate, You are hereby informed that Dimitry Popov and Bilot Sobotorov, Molokans from Atracharkii village, have undertaken to mow the grass

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on four square verstas of land for the sum of 750 rubles per square versta. They have obligated themselves to rake and clear the area and to gather the grass into stacks. They have already received an advance payment of sixty-three rubles, marked down as an expenditure. For the future, this work, and the grain harvests as well, are to be listed as separate items in the monthly accounts. Ohrloff, 8 May 1837. Johann Cornies, Son. 63. Johann Cornies to District Office. 9 May 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/36v. To the esteemed District Office in Halbstadt, I have the honour to report to the esteemed District Office that, during the night of 6 May to 7 May, the following horses strayed into my herd of horses at Iushanle: 1. A spotted white mare, six years old, of small stature, a brand mark III on the small of the back, small mane to the left side, showing saddle marks and worth ten rubles. 2. A brown gelding, seven years old, small in stature, brand mark C on the left shank, with saddle marks and worth twenty rubles. 3. A dark brown gelding, eight years old, medium size, a stripe burned into the left side of the neck and the left front shank, with a white foot on the left side in the back, a white star on the forehead, and worth twenty-five rubles. 4. A black gelding, seven years old, large stature, markings across the nose, a small white spot on the left back shank, with a brand mark EF, mane to the left side and worth forty rubles. 64. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 19 May 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/37. Your Honour, Gracious State Counsellor, On 16 May I received Yr. Honour’s esteemed communication dated 28 March/20 April. I wish to express my thanks for the gratifying messages it contained. God willing, I will respond to Yr. Honour’s invitation by leaving for Stavropol around 26 or 28 June, using post horses. This opportunity, to travel through the Kalmyk steppe and observe the manner in which these nomads live, ride, move about and manage their affairs, interests me very much. It will give me even greater

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pleasure to see Yr. Honour and to make this journey with you. Let me say honestly that, since you took leave of us, I have had a real longing to see Yr. Honour again. Wilhelm Martens suffers from a serious case of hypochondria and has become an indescribable burden to himself and his whole house. Because his illness has control over him and keeps him from making any decisions, I doubt that he will travel to the baths. The District Chairman suffers from rheumatism and is somewhat sickly. Community life is caught up in shearing time, which is at its height, but no wool buyers have yet arrived. Even the oldest people cannot remember an early spring as fruitful as is the present one. With feelings of respect and sincere loyalty, I remain, with esteem, Yr. Honour’s devoted and faithful servant, Johann Cornies Copies of this letter have been sent to Astrakhan and to Stavropol. 65. Johann Cornies to Johann Regier. 19 May 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/38. Beloved Friend Johann Regier, I received Mr. Fadeev’s letter dated 20 April in St. Petersburg and I must transmit some of its contents to you. Mr. Fadeev writes that he had not ignored the request of our community directors for assistance in promoting changes in our administration. Although he made a preliminary introduction regarding this matter, it is too early yet to become officially involved in it. On the other hand, when he again visits Petersburg next winter, he will report personally to the Minister about the government assignments he was given to investigate the conditions of Russian peasants in the Caucasus and in Astrakhan guberniia, and of settlers in Saratov guberniia. A certain State Counsellor Keppen is involved in the same process.11 He has been commissioned to investigate the conditions of settlers in Tavrida guberniia, and will arrive here on the Molochnaia after 15 August. You should make suitable preparations for his visit since he will also be reporting personally in Petersburg. Mr. Fadeev and Mr.

11 Petr Ivanovich Keppen (Keppen) (1793–1864), the noted statistician and ethnographer, worked for the Department of State Domains within the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He joined the new Ministry of State Domains when it was created in 1838. He became a friend and important ally of Cornies.

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Keppen intend to work together to introduce our directors’ request officially in the ministry so that conditions for Mennonites might be improved. On his journey from the Crimea to the Don in late August or early September, the Grand Duke and heir to the throne will travel through our settlements. To ensure that completely satisfactory arrangements are made for the reception of this eminent visitor it is probably necessary to begin now already to improve the appearance of our villages. Since Petersburg seldom receives such requests, your noble plea that you be released from [the obligation to accept] the medal has aroused surprise in the ministry. Meanwhile, the Emperor’s benevolence and the government’s recognition will not be forgotten. I must postpone my journey until late June. Mr. Fadeev would like me to arrive in Stavropol at the beginning of July and to travel with him across the entire Kalmyk steppe to Sarepta.12 Mr. Fadeev is of the opinion that my meeting with him could also be useful for our whole community and, God willing, I will follow this advice. At the same time, Mr. Fadeev asks me to pass along a friendly greeting. With this, I commend myself to you, as your faithfully disposed friend Johann Cornies. 66. Heinrich Cornies to Johann Cornies. 21 May 1837. SAOR 89-1-426/48.13 Dear brother, I spoke with Mr. Hahn about his repayment of your money. He has asked to keep the money until 13 August and has written to you in this matter himself. However, if this is impossible, he will work out some other arrangement. Please write to me.

12 Fadeev, now an employee of the Department of State Domains, was taking part in the large-scale surveys of state peasants initiated by Nicholas I in 1837. On this subject, see W. Bruce Lincoln, In the Vanguard of Reform: Russia’s Enlightened Bureaucrats, 1825–1861 (Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1982). Cornies accompanied and advised Fadeev for part of the survey and was also a key informant for Keppen’s survey of Tavrida Guberniia. Regarding Cornies’ 1837 travels with Fadeev, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81. 13 Regarding this loan, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 15 and docs. 14, 23, 66, 70, 71, 104, 105, 132, 133, 206, 241.

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I gave shepherd Prokop Lananenko more money, 10 paper rubles and 16 silver rubles. I cannot find such thin lead, since everything here is too thick. Although I had it put through the rollers, this does not make it any thinner. We thank God that we are all quite healthy except for our Heinrich who has been feverish for some time. Hearty greetings to all of you, your brother Heinrich Cornies. Received May 23, 1837. Rectified. 67. Johann Cornies to District Office. 24 May 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/39. To the esteemed District office in Halbstadt, I have the honour to inform the esteemed District Office that two of the horses that strayed into my horse herd, as reported 9 May 1837, specifically a brown and a dark brown gelding, have been released to the owners with a receipt. 68. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. June 1837. SAOR 89-1-426/22. Most esteemed Cornies, I have arrived safely despite great and varied inconveniences. My business here has been settled and I will now travel to the Caucasus guberniia, hoping to arrive in the Sarepta region about 20 July. It would make me very happy if you could have completed your project by then and were able to spend time with me in the region. Please let me know if this letter reaches you at home and address your letter to Stavropol. I am sending you the gardening newpapers for the New Russian settlements and the Crown orchard … These six copies belong to your Society, the Molochnaia settlers, Khortitsa, Josephstahl, Gross-Liebental in the Odessa settlements. The one entitled the Berliner Garten Zeitung should be sent to the Ekaterinoslav Crown orchard. I am passing these newspapers on to you for appropriate forwarding. The rental of Kalmyk lands is the direct responsibility of the local Kalmyk administrative office of which I am the head. However, the whole of the surplus lands have still to be divided into sections and this is to be made public. This may well be delayed until autumn. I will tell you more when we meet in Sarepta, and will, in any case, notify you in the fullness of time.

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Did you get my letter of 24 April from Petersburg? Mr. Keppen must be in the Crimea by now and did not plan to visit the Molochnaia until late August, after the completion of the Crown Prince’s journey to the area. It has been terribly wet here and is already very hot. How are things in your area? Give my greetings to your wife and all your good brethren in faith. Your sincerest friend, A Fadeev. Received August 3, 1837. 69. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 5 June 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/42. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, On 3 June I again dispatched my current year’s wool to you, loaded on twenty-three carts and with a net weight of six hundred and thirty puds, twenty-two funt. I did so without first inquiring whether you would be willing to take it for sale on consignment. Please forgive me and let me request that you accept my wool for sale as you have done in the past. Enclosed is the original contract I concluded with the carters. After they have safely delivered the wool, you might pay the remainder of the eight-hundred and sixty rubles owing out of my wool accounts. According to the enclosed invoice, you will receive wool washed on the sheep and packed in fifty-five linen sacks marked J.C.: three sacks of ‘electa’, twenty-nine of first quality, sixteen of second quality and seven of third quality. One of my good friends, Peter Schmidt, Steinbach, has requested that I ask you whether you would be willing to sell about a hundred and forty puds of wool on consignment for him. In the hope that you would not refuse this request, I have forwarded to you one hundred and thirty-eight puds, one funt of wool, packed in eleven sacks, loaded on five carts. The original contract and invoice are included. You will see that the carters received no advance payments, since Schmidt was not at home when the carters left. Please be so kind as to pay the carters out of the wool account and send the money earned after the sale of the wool, and all other necessary correspondence directly to Mr. Peter Schmidt, Steinbach, through the Molochnaia District Office. Included in these eleven linen sacks marked P.S. are four sacks of first quality and seven sacks of second quality wool.

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We give you my wool and that of Peter Schmidt for sale on consignment, with complete trust, and leave the details to your best judgment. With a friendly greeting, I remain your constant faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 70. Johann Cornies to Peter Hahn. 8 June 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/43v.14 Your Honour Mr. Hahn, I have received Yr. Honour’s letter of 21 May, and must say that I had definitely counted on the repayment of the sum of 2500 paper rubles, which you had borrowed from me until 10 May of this year. It is that time of year when I must make large expenditures in my business dealings and within our settlements. To make matters worse, we are also experiencing a pressing shortage of money. Nevertheless, I have found a way to accommodate your request and agree to postpone the repayment of the above-mentioned sum until 13 August of this year. At that time, kindly pay the money to my brother, Heinrich Cornies in Ekaterinoslav, in exchange for the promissory note. I will not be home at that time, but on my way to visit your father-in-law in the Caucasus from where I will then make a trip with him through the Kalmyk lands. With esteem and respect, I am honoured to be Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 71. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 8 June 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/44.15 Dear Brother Heinrich, I would ask you personally to pass on the enclosed letter to Captain Hahn. As requested, I have postponed repayment of 2500 paper rubles until 13 August of this year and have asked him to pay this amount to you for forwarding to me, in exchange for the promissory note. Therefore, please be so kind as to receive the sum owed from Mr. Hahn. If he volunteers to pay interest and asks you about it, charge him five percent. Should he fail to mention anything about interest, do not remind him of it but simply accept the capital sum.

14 Ibid. 15 Ibid.

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We are all healthy, God be praised, and wish you and your family the same, with all our hearts. May you fare well, adieu. Your brother, who loves you, Johann Cornies 72. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 14 June 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/44v. Most honoured Mr. Blueher, Your most valued communications of 6 April, 18 May, and 25 May were received in good order as well as the remittance of 20,000 rubles. At this time, about 500 puds of wool have already been purchased on your account, with longhaired wool being sought as widely as possible. Another 300 puds are still needed to make up the quantity you wished and this will be bought in the next five or six days. Initially, local prices were not much lower than they were last year. However, when the demands of the first purchasers were quickly satisfied and no other orders appeared, the price fell by a few rubles. Your wool was purchased at approximately thirty-five rubles per pud. Neufeld delayed his own purchases so as to be able to make the last ones at a lower price. At present I have not heard of any further wool purchases. Most sheep breeders are preparing to send their wool to wool markets in Ekaterinoslav and Romen on consignment. They will absolutely not discuss any price under thirty-five rubles. I do believe that a few will still accommodate themselves to a lower price. The most difficult part of this purchase is that batches of wool, including short wool, must not be accepted. Sellers are very reluctant to agree to this. Otherwise the wool could probably be bought at a lower price. God willing, I intend to travel to Stavropol on 26 or 27 June and accompany Mr. Fadeev through the Kalmyk steppes to Sarepta. I really intend to establish a Spanish sheep farm in the Sarepta area. Last winter I corresponded with the Sarepta community director, Mr. Menz, about the lease of a part of their land. This the community could not agree to because it would reduce the size of their hay meadows. I therefore intend to lease a considerable strip of land from the Kalmyks and lay out a sheep farm there if the area seems suitable for sheep breeding. I will be home again by 15 August to greet important visitors. We are all healthy, thank God, and wish you and your dear family the same. With heartfelt greetings, I remain your loving, obligated friend and servant, Johann Cornies.

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P.S. I would be obliged if you might obtain one or two puds of good larch seed capable of sprouting, and have it sent to me no earlier than this coming September ... 73. Johann Cornies to Wild. 14 June 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/46. Esteemed District Chairman Wild, I have the honour to respond to your letter of 9 May 1837 by reporting that first quality pureblood rams, bred from the purebred sheep I brought from Saxony, are sold at my sheepfarm at Iushanle after 23 September each year. They are two years old and cost fifty rubles per head. A second quality of highly bred metis rams have wool hardly lower in quality with respect to fineness and evenness. At two years of age, they cost thirty-five rubles per head. I cannot and will not assert that these sheep are better than those you bought from me earlier and from the Berdiansk community’s sheep farm. An impartial sheep expert must make that judgment on site. For my own part, I can only tell you that individuals who have bought rams from me in the past have returned to buy more rams that will be used to help in the refinement of their flocks. The number of rams for sale from my flocks has only been around a hundred and fifty annually, and will hardly be more this year. With respect, I have the honour to be your willing servant, Johann Cornies. 74. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. Undated – Before 26 June 1837. SAOR 89-1-414/1.16 I request Johann Cornies to keep a travel journal during our journey through the Kalmyk Steppe, and to pay particular attention to: 1. Condition and characteristics of the soil, how it varies from the soil on the New Russian steppe, with particular attention to the salty and sandy spots, and how the soil can be improved. 2. The possibility of settling this steppe, indicating spots that are most suitable. In your opinion, might it be possible to settle the nomadic

16 Regarding Cornies’ 1837 travels with Fadeev, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 66, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81.

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Kalmyks on a definite spot? How and by what methods? Might they be partly transformed, making them partly sedentary? How might the land be divided up for these people without encroaching on the life of the remaining nomads and putting off outsiders from becoming involved and supportive? 3. How much land of average quality is required by one nomad householder in moderate circumstances and with a Kibitka to maintain his well-being? 4. How much livestock can a village community sell in one year from average herds [or flocks] without weakening them? This applies to healthy horses, cattle and sheep. 5. How much does a Russian peasant need, on average, to support each soul, including food, clothing, etc.? 75. Johann Cornies to David Epp. 15 July 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/47.17 Beloved friend David Epp, Heubuden, I am here at the foot of beautiful Mount Bisten in the Caucasus, located in a romantic region with glorious views of the Caucasus Mountains that are covered with eternal snow. Elbrus, the highest of these mountains, rises majestically far above the clouds. The inhabitants of this region live in constant fear of Circassians on fleet-footed horses bent on kidnapping many of their members and dragging them off to the mountains. Just last year, five children of the few settlers who live here were stolen out of their parents’ gardens. How sorrowful for everyone, but especially for the fathers and mothers! Although all roads are guarded day and night by good watchmen, the deep valleys and forests that grow here more luxuriantly than in any place I have ever visited serve as secret hiding places for the Circassians. I will leave tomorrow by post road and intend to be among the Kalmyk peoples in three or four days. The Kalmyk lands are not as beautiful as is this area, nor are they as dangerous. My journey is eventually intended to have useful results for my brethren in faith. I plan to return home from Sarepta or from Astrahkan. When I left the Molochnaia, my family was well, which I also heartily wish you and your dear family. My time is short and I must break off.

17 Ibid.

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May you fare well. Please give my greetings to everyone who remembers me with love. Your friend and brother who will not forget you, Johann Cornies. 76. Johann Cornies to Daniel Schlatter. 22 July 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/47v.18 Dear, unforgettable Daniel, It is a long, a very long time since I have heard anything from you, about you or how and where you are. It is surely my fault that you have not written to me. There have been many reasons why I have not kept up a regular exchange of letters with you, even if only once a year. Where are those hours that we spent together on the Molochnaia, in Burkut, in Ohrloff? They are gone and will not return. Yet they are still unforgettable and will remain so. Eternity will reveal my love and my intentions. During the course of our earthly life, we are given our own individual character and purpose and we must live within these limits, because this is what we were given. However, if we are to achieve our true goals we must also always pursue a moderate course. I left Molochnaia four weeks ago, posting to the Caucasus on a commission, and from there through the Kalmyk steppes to Sarepta. The Caucasus region is exceptionally beautiful but very dangerous because of the Circassians. Karass is a miserable settlement, and so are its inhabitants, rent by dissension and quarrelling supposedly caused by Peterson and Lange.19 It is a terrible business, with few traces of Christian spirit. Some of the converted Circassians have left Karass and returned to their assemblies and earlier beliefs. I had imagined Karass to be better in every respect than what I have found.

18 Ibid. 19 Alexander Paterson was the Elder of the Karass colony from 1813 to 1835. A controversial figure, he was removed from office after an official investigation concluded that he was responsible for the strong disputes between the colony’s Scottish and German residents. Jakob Lang succeeded Paterson as Elder, serving from 1835 to 1866. On Paterson, see Tsvetelina Haralampieva, “Scottish Missionaries in Karass and Their Role in the Russian Colonisation of the North Caucasus in the First Quarter of the XIX Century,” Via Evrasia 2 (2013). Regarding Lang, see the Center For Volga German Studies Gazateer, s.v. “Karass,” retrieved 11 June 2014 from http://cvgs.cu-portland. edu/gazetteer/other_places/karras.cfm.

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The Kalmyks live in great darkness on a colossal 600 versta stretch of desert from the Caucasus to Sarepta. Even their princes are poor. A nomadic Nogai lived much better in his kibitka thirty years ago, although the Kalmyk is a simpler child of nature than the Nogai. Sarepta is attractively situated and built in an orderly manner, as are all Brethren settlements. My children spent three months here last year on their return from Moscow, and enjoyed many good things. The children give us pleasure and are now our assistants in our agricultural establishments. The Molochnaia has changed astonishingly since you were last here and everything is now functioning on a different, improved basis. Its economic and spiritual life and activity have improved. Three more schools like the one in Ohrloff are now operating with good, Christian teachers and there seems to be a general zeal to give our youth a better education. Voth returned to the Molochnaia last year and is teaching in a school in Steinbach, but he was seriously ill when I left and, seen from a human viewpoint, is unlikely to survive.20 Hausknecht travelled to Prussia to visit his parents-in-law. They do not like him in Khortitsa anymore. People turned against him because he wrote petitions for a local Mennonite who had made unreasonable monetary demands of the community. Eventually this man personally forwarded accusations to Count Vorontsov against the whole community and the Guardianship Committee for Colonists in Southern Russia. Hausknecht will be fortunate, very fortunate if he escapes without being punished. I pity him. I decided to report this to you, since he is your compatriot and dear friend, but I do not mean to arouse your distrust and weaken your love for him. I had to distance myself from him several years ago, because I could not approve of his unreasonable projects and satisfy his arrogant demands for money. I report the matter to you unwillingly and would gladly interpret these things favourably, but must tell you this for the sake of the truth. You can interpret this as you wish. From here, I was supposed to go to the Aral [Sea] to visit the Kirghiz khan and the horde and to Astrakhan afterwards. However a sudden change of circumstances called me back to the Molochnaia and I will travel home within four or five days. With honest love and affection, I will remain your loving, unchanging life-long friend and brother, Johann Cornies.

20 Tobias Voth, the first teacher at the Ohrloff school.

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77. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 26 July 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/49v.21 Dear brother Heinrich Cornies, I reached peaceful, friendly Sarepta eight days ago, after travelling almost 900 verstas from the Caucasus through the gigantic desert lands of the Kalmyk steppe. On these steppes, travellers do not meet a human being every day and most of the people they meet are Kalmyks. Our passage through the horde resembled that of a caravan moving across the Arabian desert, camels harnessed to wagons, and escorts armed with rifles, sabres, and clubs riding in an irregular pattern close by. Cossacks and Kalmyks rode on camels and horses in a cavalcade of more than a versta in length and looking fabulously strange. By now I have enjoyed many good things. This settlement and its inhabitants are very friendly, but it is in sharp contrast to the surrounding land, which seems correspondingly unfriendly and uninhabitable. Granted, there is no shortage of good water supplied by many springs, but there are few hay meadows and cultivated fields, and they are all miserable. As a result, I cannot imagine bringing a considerable flock of sheep through the winter. I have partially given up my intention of establishing a sheep farm here. The Sarepta people would very much like me to take up a lease on crown lands near Sarepta available for sixty kopeks per desiatina for twelve years or on 20,000 desiatinas from the Kalmyks. The latter arrangement would first need approval from Petersburg. This could be done easily, quickly, and cheaply, but I cannot see how one might find sufficient hay in the area. It would have to be gathered laboriously in the narrow, deep ravines, and this would be expensive and difficult. Please come to Ohrloff as soon as possible after you get this letter, so that we can discuss this matter. If you are not able to come, write to me immediately, so that I do not have to wait. I intend to leave for home tomorrow and to arrive there next Tuesday, 4 August. May you, with greetings, fare well. Your brother Johann Cornies

21 Regarding Cornies’ 1837 travels with Fadeev, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 66, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81. Regarding the Sarepta project, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 20, and docs. 32, 51, 77, 84, 86.

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78. Johann Cornies to Johann Wiebe. 26 July 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/50v.22 Esteemed Mr. Wiebe, best of friends, I have found enough leisure in peaceful, friendly Sarepta, on the banks of the Volga River, to write a few lines about my journey. On commission and by special posting, I departed from Ohrloff for the Caucasus about four weeks ago. From there I travelled through the Kalmyk steppe to Sarepta. It is a land impossible to cultivate. Only very occasionally does one happen upon a small encampment of ten to twenty Kalmyk huts. A genuine desert! No birds sing and no trees or bushes are visible on a flat plain of more than eleven million desiatinas. Its limits are vast, and it is inhabited only by Kalmyks, a wretched people. They neither plough nor sow, and still the heavenly Father sustains them. This land is under the control of the Russian government. It is divided into principalities governed by Kalmyk princes who follow their own tribal system. While these princes are just as ignorant as are the common Kalmyks, they are prouder, more greedy for honour, conceited, and conscious of their own magnificence. I had audiences with several of them. Most activities, however, are directed by several thousand priests, who, with their sorcery, have the ability to control both princes and people. The camel train [with which we travelled] could be compared to a caravan journeying through the deserts of Arabia. Everything was hauled by camels. Even the escort, armed with rifles and daggers, rode on camels. The whole train proceeded in confusion and stretched out for at least a versta. Kibitki transported on camels were set up for night encampments. Although considerable areas of very good land occur on these steppes, here and there, most of the land is completely useless for cultivation. Not a bird sings and there are no wild animals except for larger or smaller herds of antelope, which travellers can see off in the distance. We were supposed to continue across the Volga to visit the Kirghiz Khan on the Aral Sea, but this trip had to be cancelled. Contrasted with the climate on the Molochnaia, this region is arid, particularly on the Kalmyk deserts, and so hot that the air glows. For

22 Regarding Cornies’ 1837 travels with Fadeev, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 66, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81.

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several days the thermometer rose to as high as twenty-nine degrees at five in the afternoon. The people here seem to be used to it, especially the Kalmyks. The greatest difficulty in most areas is a shortage of good water, the bane of all deserts. The purpose of my journey was to assess whether it might eventually be of use to our brethren in faith. I now intend to return home 27 July / 4 August, God willing. This year at home, on the Molochnaia, we have been blessed with an abundance of the fruits of field and garden, more than we have ever harvested before. With friendly greetings, I remain, as always your true and loving friend, Johann Cornies. 79. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 3 August 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/52. Most beloved Mr. Doehring, Eight days ago today, Tuesday, 27 July, at a quarter to four in the afternoon, I stepped into my vehicle at the guest house in friendly Sarepta, where I had enjoyed many good things for almost nine days. After taking leave of you, your dear family and dear friends who were gathered to see me off, I promised to inform all of you upon my safe arrival at home. Many thanks are due to the dear Lord. He carried me and my companions home quickly and safely as though on the wings of an eagle. I reached Hoffnungsthal, the Wuertemberg village, on Saturday just as the sun was setting, and on Sunday evening I was on my sheep farm in Iushanle, where I found my son and daughter. They gave me news of my wife’s well-being. I spent the night with them, sharing the many greetings I had brought along from Sarepta. Monday I travelled to Ohrloff, and today a dozen Nogais appeared, authorized by their community to welcome me and to inquire whether I had seen the Idil (Volga) and drunk its waters. When I affirmed that I had, they promised that I would reach the happy age of two hundred years. The drought and heat are relentless here too, with twenty-nine degrees at five in the afternoon, as it was there, but this we find exceptional. In the regions around Taganrog and along the coast of the Sea of Azov, the searing wind has caused incalculable damage to the wheat crop. Because it ripened so suddenly, the ears of wheat had developed no kernels and I am told that many estate owners will not harvest even two chetverik from the fifty chetvert of wheat that they sowed.

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This is not the situation here in the Molochnaia region where one hears of no such failures in the wheat harvest. The grain harvest on my estates was finished eight days ago and hay gathering will be completed this week and next. My son estimates that this year’s crop of hay will equal 2400 loads, at sixty puds per load. Wool prices were very low at the Ekaterinoslav wool market and my brother has therefore bought a shipment of about 700 puds of wool and sent it along to Mr. Blueher for sale in Moscow. Together with hearty thanks for all your love and kindness, my wife and I, and also our children send warm greetings to you and your dear family. At the same time, I would ask you to forward my greetings to all the good, loving friends I have had the good fortune to meet and who remember me with love. In particular, give my greetings to the gentlemen Karich, Blueher, and Langerfeld who made the effort to be present when I departed. Without pretence, I assure you and the entire Sarepta brotherhood of my honest interest and sympathy, and remain your true friend and servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. I enclose my specific description of cattle plague (Rinderpest), and also the rules, tested through practical application, by which it can be prevented from spreading or advancing as an epidemic. 80. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 6 August 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/53v.23 Your Honour, Gracious State Counsellor Fadeev, I left Sarepta on Tuesday afternoon, 27 July, for my beloved Molochnaia and arrived quickly and in very good condition, at my sheep farm in Iushanle on Sunday, 1 August. I hope that my stay in Sarepta will have provided some benefit to that community. I explained to them the advantages of Spanish sheep-breeding, and instructed them about arrangements which private owners could develop. As a beginning, small sheep farms might be established on various parts of their land. I had already identified several of the most advantageous spots for this. I also instructed them about the needed arrangements. Based on my own reasoning, I demonstrated that Spanish sheep-breeding could thrive well on their lands

23 Ibid.

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and produce great advantages for the owners and community alike. Most community members I met understood me well and showed an interest in following my advice. I promised to help them in establishing a good sheep farm and to advise them if things went wrong. Then I will give them whatever help I can. The establishment of several smaller, privately owned sheep-farms on their land would also help to enliven the Sarepta settlement in its industry and enterprise. This would give the Kalmyks who would live here as shepherds a special opportunity to earn a double livelihood, and might also inspire imitation [in the surrounding region]. The inhabitants of Serepta could be encouraged to adopt an agricultural life by settling individual young families on the sheep-farms as managers. This form of life could eventually be made so generally attractive, that such sheep farms could, in time, be transformed into villages that would prove greatly advantageous for the region. Mr. Menz is himself a kindly man, but he lacks the leadership abilities needed to guide a community to prosperity and to ensure that that prosperity is maintained. On the other hand, the community has able, upright members who will privately make zealous efforts to do whatever will eventually prove to be useful for themselves and the state. On my arrival in Ohrloff, I found a letter from the governor, notifying me that the Emperor would arrive in Bakhchisarai on 10 September and in Simferopol on 12 September. I immediately called a meeting to select a deputation to present the monarch with a humble submission of thanks from the whole Mennonite brotherhood and to petition him for a confirmation of our privileges.24 With feelings of the liveliest reverence, I remember with real pleasure the delightful opportunity Yr. Honour gave me to make a journey through the Kalmyk land in your company. For the rest of my life I will treasure and value highly the benevolent instruction and friendly enjoyment you provided me in this way. I am your genuine and sincere servant and should my humble services be of any possible use to Yr. Honour, I emphatically request that you make use of them. Nothing

24 In Septemer 1837 Cornies travelled to Simferopol with a group of Mennonite Elders hoping to gain an audience with Nicholas I, and to have Nicholas reconfirm the Mennonite Privilegium. Regarding this trip, the audience with Nicholas, the reconfirmation of the Privilegium, and Crown Prince Alexander’s subsequent visit to the Molochnaia, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 80, 88, 89, 90, 91, 95, 97.

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would do more to brighten my days and give me greater pleasure than if you, our inestimable benefactor, were to give me and my brotherhood an opportunity to do you a favour. With feelings of honest esteem, I remain with great respect, Yr. Honour’s most devoted servant, J.C. 81. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. Undated – after 1 August 1837. SAOR 89-1-414/1.25 The following opinions are submitted in response to Yr. Honour’s commission to me in regard to my journey through a part of the Kalmyk Steppes. It asked me to assess the condition and characteristics of the soil, its varieties in comparison to those on the New Russian steppes. It also asked if, in my opinion, it might be possible to permanently settle the Kalmyks who are now nomadic, etc. From the border of the crown village of Nedvechia to the great Derbent horde, farther to the border of the Don Cossack land on the Manich and from the Don lands to the source of the little Buratin river in the small Derbent horde, the soil seemed generally to be quite uniform, judging it from the road. It is mainly light yellow in type, mixed with sand. It supports a spear-like, long stemmed grass, but few plants suitable for fodder. Grass grows more luxuriantly in low-lying areas along rivers and in ravines, and is sufficient to be mowed and made into hay. In general, the soil’s composition allows it to absorb moisture easily but not the ability to retain moisture, which will evaporate very quickly. For this reason, such soil is the most indifferent of any of the soils that can support grain growing. Still, with the exception of the salt spots, cultivation of grain would be worthwhile. There are enough advantageous locations in valleys to establish villages and in spots where shallow wells can be dug, even if no water is visible. The entire extent of land we travelled across is not so arid as to make settlement impossible. From the little river Buratin to the crown village of Akssei, the soil is lighter, but of the same yellow colour, and the grass on the steppes is shorter. It can be concluded that grain cultivation would produce a lower yield on this stretch than in the great Derbent horde as far as the

25 Regarding Cornies’ 1837 travels with Fadeev, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 66, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81.

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little river Buratin. Still, I have no doubt that even here enough grain can be cultivated on this particular soil to meet household needs. Dams can be constructed across rivers to cause flooding and improve the wide valleys along this stretch sufficiently to make them into good hay meadows. Evidence of this can be seen in the small, flat depressions found here and there on the steppe, where water from rain or melting snow collected and wet the soil. This is enough to make grass grow. To be sure, the salt spots found here are not suitable for field cultivation. However, there are extended stretches of arid land with few or absolutely no salt spots, where the dry appearance is due to the soil’s meagre performance, not to the salt. There is also no doubt that there could be some field cultivation for household use at spots in the long expanse from the crown village Nedvechia, through the great and small Derbent hordes as far as the crown village of Akssei, then to the flat section in the Crimea from Koslov to Perekop and from there along the Gniloie More to Arabat, and, finally, around the large circle from Torka to Perekop. This land could be especially suitable for partly settled nomads, since livestock breeding is the principal source of income for them. If they arranged their agricultural establishments well, they could soon become and remain prosperous. I cannot suggest on my own how these steppes can be divided suitably for partly settled nomads and for regular nomads so that the agricultural economy of one group is not detrimental to the activities of the other. An accurate, geographic survey of the interior of these lands should be done for this purpose, accurately depicting the location of all rivers with running and standing water, as well as lakes, swamps, and sand flats, and also wells already providing water. Such a survey would provide a basis for deciding on settlement sites, if some of the Kalmyks decide to become partly settled nomads. Whether such settlements encroach on still nomadic Kalmyks will be determined if these nomads then insist that their use of watering places, meadows, and similar sites will suffer. All this could be understood and decided using an accurately surveyed map. It seems to me that the government could encourage the development of partial nomads by advancing money to poorer Kalmyks to construct buildings, even if only thirty or forty hardworking families, not drunkards, were included at the beginning. They should be given the choice of living in houses or kibitkas as long as they are required to keep their homes in an orderly condition and good state of repair at all times, and if they lived in their houses in winter and beside them

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at other times. These Kalmyks would have to lay out their cultivated fields around their houses and store the straw from their threshed grain as well as their mowed hay in stacks near their houses. An advance of money, for a limited number of years, would be needed to acquire one plough for two families, a wagon for every family and probably also a pair of draught livestock. Furthermore, they should be given five or six years of freedom from all taxation and levies. To encourage such families, crown warehouses must buy their excess grain for immediate cash, without creating difficulties. Prices paid should match the highest prices being paid in the region. The question of how much land is necessary for a partly settled family can only be answered after such a family has actually conducted its agricultural economy in this manner for several years. It will then be possible to determine the results and estimate how much livestock it can sell annually. The awarding of silver medals to common Kalmyks who have earned such distinction could provide much encouragement for the pursuit of field cultivation. Moreover, a real incentive would be to free the very best of such distinguished and rewarded Kalmyks from taxes for the rest of their lives, and also of the regular obligations which bear down on the Kalmyk community. My judgment of the section of Kalmyk steppe over which I travelled with Yr. Honour, is as follows: the soil of this steppe does not consist of loam but of a light, yellow dry soil that contains little or no humus. It is, on the contrary, mixed with sand which makes it even lighter. It cannot retain rain and snow to make it fruitful. This is a necessary and basic need for plants to thrive. If this dry soil were not mixed with sand, it would be better able to bind and retain moisture. Evidence of this is provided by the grass that grows only when the spring rains have kept the soil evenly moist and stops growing as soon as the rains cease. Fertilizer and fertilizing specifically in fall, could improve the soil, make it heavier and give it more strength to retain the fructifying parts of the air. Grain would also thrive better in this region if, late in autumn, the peasants deeply and carefully ploughed those fields they intend to seed in spring, permitting snow and rain to moisten them deeply. Seeding should be done as quickly as possible immediately after the snow melts, taking possible frosts into consideration. Such action would assist in a speedy and strong growth of the seed in spring, when rain still falls frequently, giving it enough strength before the dry season so that it would not be harmed. I would give summer grains preference over winter grains. The latter need a blanket of snow in winter and they cannot thrive here because of the dearth of snow.

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82. Johann Cornies to Franz Voth. 6 August 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/55. Treasured Friend Franz Voth, Einlage, During my visit to Sarepta, several members of that community asked me to try to talk a Molochnaia master blue-dyer to accept an apprentice to learn practical dye work in blue. None of the dyers in Sarepta practice this art that is used by Mennonites to dye and print aprons and tablecloths. I promised to oblige these dear friends and so I approach you first, asking whether you would take on an apprentice and teach him all aspects of the trade of dying in blue. For what period of time and on what conditions would you take him on? Please let me know of your decision quickly and also whether the engraving of pattern blocks can be learned from you at the same time. With a friendly greeting to you and your dear family, I remain your devoted friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 83. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 11 August 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/56v. Your Excellency, Gracious Sir, When Yr. Excellency travelled through Melitopol Uezd last June, honouring me with a visit to my Iushanle estate house, I promised to bring along some of the best mustard manufactured in the colony of Sarepta, where I was planning to go. I now have the pleasure, which I deem a particular honour, of sending you two and one-half funt of the best quality mustard I could buy in Sarepta. A Mennonite travelling to Simferopol on business will deliver it to Yr. Excellency’s house. With the greatest esteem and most faithful devotion, I remain Yr. Excellency’s fully obedient servant, Johann Cornies. 84. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 10 August 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/55v. Most Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Yesterday your valued communications dated 13 July and 27 July arrived and also the remainder of the money, 6,000 paper rubles, for the advance I made toward your wool purchase. As for prices at this year’s wool markets in Ekaterinoslav and Romen, prices were much the same, from twenty to thirty rubles per pud. People visiting these markets were astonished at the surprisingly

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large amount of wool available. The number of buyers was small by comparison and this drove down the price of wool. Before the opening of the markets, purchases of wool here and in other places were only four or five rubles per pud lower than they were last year. I completed my journey safely eight days ago. I visited the colony of Karass, then travelled through the Kalmyk land to Sarepta, where I stayed for nine days and enjoyed many good things. I have, however, changed my mind about establishing a sheep farm on the Kalmyk land near Sarepta.26 I found that there were not enough hay meadows to ensure that a farm could produce sufficient hay to prevent a good flock of sheep of considerable size from dying of hunger. At the same time, I encouraged several Sarepta community members to introduce Spanish sheep breeding on their own land. Their steppe is admirably suited to sheep breeding. In a few years it could produce an annual income of 20,000 rubles for the Sarepta settlement. I did not fail to thoroughly explain all advantages they might obtain in this way. Several of them are already convinced, and next year I will help them to get good sheep and provide them with guidance to maintain, increase and improve these sheep. With friendly greetings to you and your dear family, I remain your faithfuly obligated friend and servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. I will soon be rescued from the Orekhov post office’s irregular and undependable service. A new post office was opened a few days ago in the crown village of Novoaleksandrovka [later the city of Melitopol], only twenty-eight verstas from Ohrloff. This village is situated on the road from Ohrloff to my second estate, Tashchenak. I hope to receive letters, especially money remittances, more quickly and with less effort. I will report more specifically about this after I have spoken with the postmaster about the letters and packages sent to my address. 85. Johann Cornies to David Pauls. 18 August 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/58. Dear Friend David Pauls, Osterwick, You paid me the two thousand rubles that Gerhard Braun, Osterwick, borrowed from me with a promissory note, and also the interest.

26 Regarding the Sarepta project, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 20, and docs. 32, 51, 77, 84, 86.

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The amount is correct, but you paid most of the money from Braun in gold instead of silver. This is contrary to our agreement and means that he did not keep his word. If Braun is your relative, or if you have some other contact with him, please make it clear to him in advance that, should he wish to borrow money from me in future, he will not be able to do so. With a greeting to you and your wife, I remain your friend, Johann Cornies. P.S. Enclosed, as a receipt for the money paid to me, you will receive Braun’s promissory note to me, to be forwarded to him. The same. 86. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 19 August 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/58v. Dear Mr. Doehring, Another post office has been set up along the newly built post road from the Crimea to Taganrog. It is in the crown village of Novoaleksandrovka, twenty-eight verstas from Ohrloff and ten verstas along the road to my Tashchenak estate. Now letters will reach you more quickly, and yours will be received even more quickly if you use the new designation below with the address you are now using, instead of Orekhov. This letter and the one sent to you on 3 August, have already travelled along the new post road. The price of Spanish sheep has fallen considerably here since spring. Very good purchases can be made for twelve rubles per head and they will presumably be available at several rubles less by autumn. I ask you and everyone who, in my presence, expressed an interest in introducing Spanish sheep, not to allow your courage to flag in moving forward with arrangements to establish sheep farms next year. In these times, the most essential and useful economic measure you can undertake is to settle Spanish sheep on your land. I have not yet had news from my brother in Ekaterinoslav and therefore cannot report anything definite about my intended project.27 Together with a friendly greeting, I remain your obedient friend and servant, Johann Cornies.

27 The “intended project” was the Sarepta project – see TSUS, vol. 2, note 20, and docs. 32, 51, 77, 84, 86.

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87. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 20 August 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/59. Your Honour, Gracious State Counsellor Fadeev, At two o’clock on Sunday afternoon, 8 August, I was in my office settling a few small items of business with a relative when my office door burst open and Gerhard Enns from Altona called out “The Chief Curator is here!” I jumped to my feet to receive him, but General Evdokimov and his Adjutant Mr. Sliposhkin were already at the door. I was startled, and can no longer recall what the General asked me in the first moments. They only spent five minutes in my office. They then visited the Ohrloff forest-tree plantation and my orchard, before hurrying back to the post station in Muensterberg, where they had left their equipage. They would not have come to see me if I had not previously informed Gerhard Enns that the Chief Curator was travelling in the Crimea and would presumably also come to the Molochnaia. Recognizing the General as he passed through Altonau, Enns rode after him and as they reached the other end of the village was able to invite him to visit one of the houses. Gerhard Enns took them into the Altonau forest-tree plantation on his own carriage and then to see me. Immediately after the General’s departure from Ohrloff, I hurried to Halbstadt along the straight road. The General intended to spend the night in Halbstadt and then continue his journey to Khortitsa through the Nassau plantation and through a part of the [German] colonist district. We requested that His Excellency show us his love by inspecting several improvements in our District. On Monday morning His Excellency was so obliging as to inspect the community sheep farm and mine as well. In Halbstadt he examined a threshing machine, observed the cloth factory at work and spent a few minutes in the District Office and in the Halbstadt school. They took their dinner at five o’clock and continued on their journey by six, as planned earlier, spending the night in Gruenthal. The Chief Curator could hardly find sufficient words to praise the changes and improvements that had been made since his last visit. Mr. Evdokimov told me himself that he found everything much better and grander than he had expected. The visit passed very quickly and we had just recovered from our surprise and begun to enjoy it, when our dear old Chief Curator departed again. Old age is bowing him down in the direction of his grave. I have only heard from Mr. Keppen that he will be staying with Mr. Steven. No preparations are being made to suggest that the heir to the

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throne will travel through our area. On the contrary, old horses from posting stations here are being taken to the Crimea and the local stations are being supplied with peasant horses. Wool production has been dealt a frightful blow here. Most of the wool sold in Romen for twenty-two rubles per pud and less. The Agricultural Society is not unhappy about the shock, however. It now hopes that its methodical instructions [on the importance of grain growing] will find more understanding and easier acceptance. People now talk more about wheat than about wool and many an owner of sixty-five desiatinas in this District can earn 500 and even 1000 rubles for his wheat at current prices. A post office was set up in the crown village of Novoaleksandrovka and letters to and from Astrakhan will now travel more quickly. I would therefore ask Yr. Honour to send the letters and packages to me from Astrakhan at the usual address, but through the new post office instead of through Orekhov. With great esteem and faithful obedience, I have the honour to be Yr. Honour’s obedient servant, Johann Cornies. 88. Johann Cornies to Tavrida Civil Governor Muromtsev. 9 September 1837. SAOR 89-1-434 (4).28 His Excellency, Tavrida Civil Governor Muromtsev Your Excellency, Gracious Sir! Since its first settlement, the entire Mennonite brotherhood domiciled in sixty-one villages on the Dnieper and the Molochnaia in southern Russia has lived in peaceful and blessed tranquillity under the wise, generous and benevolent government of their Most Serene Highnesses, Emperors and rulers of the land. It cannot sufficiently honour and praise the all-bountiful God, the supreme ruler of all human fate, who has elected His anointed to rule over all of Russia’s people. With each succeeding day, the great value of this happiness renews joyful and deep feelings of faithful devotion, homage and dutiful thankfulness, in the hearts of these brethren in faith. In deepest humility and with the greatest esteem, they feel compelled to send two deputies from their midst, namely the church Elders Bernhard Fast and Wilhelm

28 Regarding Cornies’ audience with Nicholas I and Crown Prince Alexander’s subsequent visit to the Molochnaia, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 80, 88, 89, 90, 91, 95, 97.

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Lange, to lay at the feet of His Imperial Majesty written expressions of the whole Mennonite brotherhood, submitted on the occasion of our ever-benevolent God’s leading of our Most Gracious Monarch into the area of the Mennonite Brotherhood’s domicile. These deputies are ignorant of the Russian language and do not know anyone in Simferopol who might be of assistance in presenting these submissions to His Imperial Majesty. The brotherhood has therefore commissioned me, the undersigned, one of its members, to request in trust and humility that Yr. Excellency show this Mennonite community His benevolent and considerate kindness. We request your benevolent intercession on the occasion of the arrival of His Imperial Majesty in Simferopol, in order that the above-mentioned deputies might be presented to the Most Exalted person of His Majesty, the Emperor, and permitted to lay their written expression of gratitude at the feet of His Imperial Majesty. With the deepest veneration and the most faithful humility, I remain, with esteem, Yr. Excellency’s most humble servant, Johann Cornies Simferopol, September 9, 1837. 89. Johann Cornies to Johann Cornies, Jr. 10 September 1837. SAOR 89-1-434/7v.29 Sent from Simferopol, Dear son, Today’s business affairs proceeded as I had hoped, thank God. The Emperor comes through here on Tuesday, 14 September. The Elders will be presented to the Emperor in person in the proper order. On 11 October His Imperial Highness, heir to the throne, will definitely travel from Ekaterinoslav through Orekhov to the Muensterberg posting station and probably also through Ohrloff and to our sheep farm. Report this to District Chairman Regier immediately to give him the time to make satisfactory arrangements for this important visitor. Meanwhile, you must make every effort to ensure that everything is in order in Ohrloff and on the sheep farm so that I do not find quite as much work piled up when I return. The Empress arrived in Bakhchisarai at noon today. There has been astonishing activity everywhere for the last eight days to receive these most august guests and their many courts. If Count Vorontsov does not

29 Ibid.

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ask me to travel with the Emperor’s southern entourage, I will leave for home immediately after the Elders have completed their audience. Give many greetings to your dear mother and Agnes. May you fare well, your loving father, Johann Cornies. 90. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 15 September 1837. SAOR 89-1-434/6.30 Sent from Simferopol, Your Honour, Gracious State Counsellor (Fadeev), Today, 15 September, I and two deputies of our community had the very great joy of being presented to His Imperial Majesty [Nicholas I] upon the intercession of Count Vorontsov and the Tavrida Civil Governor. His Majesty kindly accepted our community’s written expression of gratitude and its request that its [Charter of] Privileges be confirmed. He graciously condescended to ask us a number of questions. Turning to me, he expressed himself in these words: “I must thank you in particular. You have become useful to the state.” Should it be God’s will, I will travel home tomorrow to prepare to receive the heir to the throne. He will travel through our villages on 11 October. The exhibition of products from local guberniias pleased the Emperor very much. Mr. Keppen was not here, but on the southern Ukrainian shore and it appears that he will soon leave for Melitopol Uezd. Respectfully and with constant esteem, I will continue to remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 91. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 15 September 1837. SAOR 89-1-434/6v. Sent from Simferopol, Dear Mr. Doehring, I have been in the Crimea for more than eight days and today I saw the Emperor, the Empress, the heir to the throne and the Grand Duchess Olga. Especially important is that I spoke with the Emperor personally.31

30 Ibid. 31 Ibid.

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Exceptionally beautiful days have awakened the half-dead vegetation here from its sleep after heavy, continuing rain. Pleasant valleys burst into life, and are now green and quite beautiful. Even without its beauty, it is not my permanent abode, however. I am in a rush and will return to my home on the steppes tomorrow, which I find more serene, more to my taste, even though they are without the splendid, forested mountains of the Crimea, their valleys twisting and turning. In particular, I will find there my beloved family that lies closer to my heart than all of the Crimea and its mountains. Beloved friend, please be so kind as to keep the enclosed letter for Mr. Fadeev until he arrives, assuming that he has not yet travelled through your area from Astrakhan. Should he have already come through, please forward it to his address. Charge all postage costs to my account. I send my greetings to you, your family and all dear friends and remain your faithfully united friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 92. Traugott Blueher to Johann Cornies. 23 September 1837. SAOR 89-1-426/30. Beloved friend Cornies, Your valued communications dated 10 and 19 September arrived in good order. I have noted the new address. Conditions for the sale of Spanish wool are very unfavourable in this area. I was sure that the demand for wool would increase somewhat after the Nizhnii [Novgorod] Market, but I was regrettably wrong. A purchaser bid fifty paper rubles for your wool, but I did not proceed with the sale because he demanded extended terms for payment and is not completely solid himself. Various manufacturers were strongly affected by bad sales in Nizhnii and several important merchant firms in this area went bankrupt after the market. We are experiencing very uncertain times and should, in my judgment, await calmer days. Many manufacturers have delayed wool purchases entirely until they can see what will develop out of this confusion. The residents of Sarepta will certainly be thankful if you show them your friendship by guiding them toward regular sheep breeding. They have made little enough progress until now. I mailed you a book and ask you to accept it with my love. Perhaps your dear son will find it interesting. With friendly greetings to you and your dear family, Traugott Blueher.

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93. Johann Cornies to District Office. 25 September 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/64v. To the esteemed District Office in Halbstadt, Chairman Timir Berbaev of the Dschubet Nogai District Office sent me information today from the Nogai model settlement of Akkerman, informing me that two strange horses were found by the Nogai Mayor of Umis Bektimir village. They are presumably German horses. The first, a light brown mare of medium height with a brand mark ‘T’ on the left hind haunch, also has German brandmarks on the front and hind haunches. The second is also a medium sized light brown mare, three years old with German brandmarks on the front and hind haunches. Their owners should report quickly to Chairman Timir in Akkerman. Otherwise he is required to deliver the horses to the courts. 94. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 25 September 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/66. Dear Mr. Doehring, As I promised, I am sending you a parcel of plum seeds, specifically of two varieties, the German ‘Zwetsche’ (prune plum) and the small ‘Mirabelle’ (Syrian plum), both of them superior household fruits. The stones should immediately be pressed into the soil of a well prepared, flat garden bed, leaving them a finger’s breadth from the surface. They should then be watered well. If possible, cover them with a half arshin of foliage. Leave them like this over the winter until night frosts have ended. Treated in this way, most of the stones will sprout the first spring. Please give some of this seed to friends with whom I have become closely acquainted, and kindly notify me that it has been received. I have found that one of the most capable ‘blue dyers’ and print masters here would be interested in taking on an apprentice and teaching him all sides of this particular art of dying. There are two alternative arrangements: one, four years tuition would cost 600 rubles, including board and laundry; two, over six years, the apprentice would not make any payment and receive all necessary clothing. In either case, the master pledges not to withhold any secrets from the apprentice. Should the apprentice also show a talent for engraving pattern blocks, he would be taught this as well. Should the individual agree to these conditions, I

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request that you notify me in good time, so that I can inform the master accordingly. Sending greetings to you, your dear family and all good friends, I remain your willing servant, Johann Cornies. 95. Johann Cornies to District Office. 29 September 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/67.32 District Office in Halbstadt Enclosed are the accounts for my expenses with the deputation sent to Simferopol on community business. I would obediently ask the esteemed District Office to approve these accounts and reimburse me accordingly. 96. District Office to Johann Cornies. 11 October 1837. SAOR 89-1-446/2. To Honourable Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, You are hereby instructed to order Gerhard Wilmssen, the foreigner residing on your sheep farm, to appear at the District Office next Thursday, 14 October, to receive his certificate of permission to reside here. It has arrived from the Tavrida Civilian Governor, together with ninetyseven kopeks to cover expenses. District Office at Halbstadt, 11 October 1837, Chairman Regier. 97. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 20 October 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/67. Your Honour, Gracious State Counsellor Fadeev, Yr. Honour’s esteemed communication of 31 August arrived 6 October and also the two books by Pallas and Zwik.33 I was pleased and gratified to learn that you arrived safely in Astrakhan. Mr. Keppen is not yet here and I have not been notified when he will arrive. 32 Ibid. 33 Pallas is Peter Simon Pallas, author of Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des russischen Reichs (Gedruckt bey der kayserlichen Academie der Wissenschaften, 1771). Zwik [sic] is probably Heinrich August Zwick, who with Johann Gottfried Schill wrote Reise von Sarepta in verschiedene Kalmücken-Horden des Astrachanischen Gouvernements (Leipzig: Paul Gotthilf Summer, 1827).

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Allow me, Yr. Honour, to describe the Crown Prince’s journey through our settlement in some detail:34 On 16 October, at nine a.m., His Imperial Highness arrived in Ladekopp from Orekhov, where His Excellency, the Chief Curator and his Adjutant, as well as the District Chairman and the Village Mayor and his assistants waited to welcome him. After His Highness, seated in his caleche, received the Chief Curator’s report, the Chief Curator presented the District Chairman and the members of the village office to the Crown Prince. The latter asked if the District Chairman understood Russian, and also how many villages and souls were under his direction. The District Chairman answered in Russian, and then the Crown Prince said in German, “Now we’ll move on to Halbstadt. Please drive on ahead of us.” In Halbstadt, they stopped at the Village Mayor’s home. His Highness stepped out of his caleche and the Chief Curator presented him to the church Elders, members of the District Office, members of the Forestry Society (I was not present, but was at Akkerman), members of the Molochnaia [German] District Office and Garden Society. Then His Highness graciously entered the Village Mayor’s house, where a small exhibit of local products was displayed, nicely arranged and decorated. When the Chief Curator had given His Highness explanations of all items in the exhibit, they drove through the villages as far as Muensterberg. Here His Highness visited the house of the former Khortitsa District Chairman, Jacob Penner, and tasted several pieces of fruit out of his orchard. They then drove to the Nogai model village of Akkerman, where I presented His Highness with a short statistical summary of current conditions in this village.35 He entered one of the Nogai houses, examined the household arrangements and was most pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness, order and the attractive outward appearance of this village. His Highness expressed complete satisfaction, and ordered a presentation of 100 rubles to the householder. He had

34 Regarding Cornies’ audience with Nicholas I and Crown Prince Alexander’s subsequent visit to the Molochnaia, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 80, 88, 89, 90, 91, 95, 97. 35 Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, note 12, and docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610.

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a few more questions for me and then ordered me to go ahead to my sheep-farm. I received His Highness at the front entrance of my sheep-farm. As he stepped out of his caleche, His Highness graciously said to me, “An establishment like this does you great honour.” I introduced my two children to His Highness (regrettably, my wife was ill at home). After His Highness had looked at all arrangements in my house, he touched my arm and said, “Won’t you come and show me your whole establishment.” I showed the Crown Prince the agricultural implements first, then led him to the forest-tree plantation, the orchard and the livestock barn. “Too bad,” said His Highness, “that I did not come through here a few months earlier. Now I have so little time to inspect all of the agricultural arrangements and to have them explained to me.” Only breakfast was to be taken with me, because a full dinner had been prepared in Steinbach. But a complete midday meal developed out of the breakfast, and hardly an hour was spent at the dinner table in Steinbach. The journey continued in a closed caleche (the Crown Prince had driven in an open caleche through the villages and as far as Steinbach) through Nogaisk to Berdiansk for the night. The Chief Curator took the straight road to Neuhoffnungsthal, in order to show the Wuertemberg villages to the Crown Prince. However, the post coachmen took the wrong road and went straight through Novospaskoe instead of Neuhoffnungsthal. His Highness voiced his great displeasure about this to the Chief Curator. His Highness expressed complete satisfaction and pleasure with the Mennonite villages. On his wishes, the Chief Curator was directed to present the following gifts: gold rings set with diamonds for District Chairman Regier, Mayor Neufeld of Halbstadt and the fullholder Jacob Penner in Muensterberg, a gold tobacco case for me and a gold watch for Peter Schmidt in Steinbach. At nine this morning, 20 October, a cheerful, healthy and refreshed Chief Curator left for Odessa through the [German] villages and Orekhov. Martens is still suffering from a severe bout of hypochondria and cannot be persuaded to leave his house. The only time he has in many weeks, was to visit my sheep-farm when the Crown Prince was here. The wise doctor of the Crown Prince advised him to visit the baths in Piatigorsk next spring, and it now seems he will do so. Only time will tell. With unchanged esteem and constant obedience, I respectfully remain Yr. Honour’s always obedient servant, Johann Cornies.

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98. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 20 October 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/70. His Honour, Gracious State Counsellor Steven, Please forgive my presumption, Yr. Honour, in burdening you with another request. If you should have seeds from your garden on hand, could you send me some with this messenger? Also, please spare me a few grafting shoots from your plane-tree. I think they could be kept fresh over the winter by burying them in soil. To keep my promise to you, I am sending you the so-called earth sledge [Erdschleiffe]. 99. Molochnaia [German] District Office to Johann Cornies. 25 October 1837. SAOR 89-1-446/4. Communication to the Mennonite, Mr. Cornies, In hereby sending 300 rubles for the five breeding rams purchased from you, the District Office requests notification that the money was correctly received. 25 October 1837. District Chairman Werner. 100. Gerhard Wilmssen (Tashchenak Estate) to Johann Cornies. 3 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-343/6. Today’s count of the sheep located here is as follows: Old mixed-breed ewes suitable for breeding Old mixed-breed ewes unsuitable for breeding Old Saxon rams Saxon ewe lambs Mixed-breed ewe lambs Saxon ram lambs Mixed-breed ram lambs Old wethers Wether lambs Old she-goats Old male goat She-goat lambs Young male goats Old goat wethers Young goat wethers Total Business secretary Wilmssen. 83

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101. Johann Cornies to Johann Wiebe [Neuteich, W. Prussia]. 7 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/71v. Treasured Friend, I really have delayed answering your pleasing letters far too long. I am embarrassed and reproach myself for behaving so negligently. I could probably excuse and justify myself a little, but, really, I am still at fault. I have received your letters and parcels in good order and thank you for your kindness and care in looking after the matters I asked you to. I received 100 Dutch ducats, 147 Imperial thaler and ten Prussian thaler from Jacob Wiens, Schoenwiese. According to the local exchange rate, this is 1748 rubles. As you requested, I have taken 110 fourth class ewes at fifteen rubles per head and two genuine merino rams from my own flock at the current price of fifty rubles per head and given them for four years to two Nogai agriculturalists for half the proceeds, on terms established by the administration to govern such transactions. I had asked your cousin Jacob Wiebe to represent you when the sheep were transferred to the Nogais. He will, in future, write to you about this matter. At the same time, the direction of improvements by the Nogais will be overseen by my manager who is in charge of the introduction of sheep breeding among the Nogais. Your capital has thus been well invested and you can now calmly await your profits. Had the money arrived a week later we would have had to cancel the transaction for this year. I am glad to have been able to do something on your behalf and will be pleased if your capital increases substantially. I am equally pleased that you have shown your compassion to the poor Nogais by giving them sheep on these terms, as have many of our brethren here. May God bless this matter. I hope these lines find you and your dear family happy and well. I remain, with sincerest greetings, your devoted servant, Johann Cornies. Consignments received: 1836. On 19 April, 1.72 litres [1/2 Metz] seeds for oil plant, 1.72 litres summer rape-seed and 3.44 litres winter rape-seed and one small barrel of the same oil. On 8 August, two volumes of Prussian history, and one volume Hausfreund (Home companion), one Kuester Biblische Erzaehlungen (Bible Stories), one Heise’s Leitfaden (Guidebook), etc., one Steins Geographie (Stein’s geography) and one Naturlehre (Nature Study)

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On 13 August, six copies Baumgaertner (Tree Gardener), one Natur Geschichte (Natural History), one Bredow Weltgeschichte (World History), one Materialien zu Unterredungen (Materials for Discussions), one Regeln der Padagogie (Rules of Pedagogy) and one Vorarbeiter fuer Lehrer (Preparation for Teachers) 1837. On July 7, forty-three copies of Baumgaertner (Tree Gardener) and one Gesanglehre (Singing Instruction). On August 9, 100 Dutch ducats, 147 Imperial thaler, 10 Prussian thaler, and three volumes Preussische Geschichte (Prussian History) by Steinel and Gerichts Formulare (Judicial Precedents). Cornies 102. Forestry Society to Blumstein Village Office. 24 October 1837. SAOR 89-1-428/62. To the Blumstein Village Office, According to the Mayor’s report, several Blumstein cottagers have not yet prepared the number of designated setting trenches. The Society orders the Village Office to command the mentioned cottagers not to delay preparing the correct number of setting trenches as deep and as wide as prescribed. This must be done without fail by 26 October. Should this not be done as prescribed, these persons will be presented to the Society for punishment as insubordinate. 103. Peter Warkentin to Johann Cornies. 10 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-426/5. Very dear friend, I hereby send my son to you with the forty rubles I borrowed with a request that you kindly forgive me for not acting sooner. The delay was occasioned by my estimates for wool prices that were seriously wide of the mark. I should, by rights, return the money to you in silver, since I received it in this form, but I am ignorant of where to get it. I would have delivered the money personally, but could not because I was ill in bed for a few days and am still not well. I had to accept the half-Imperial at a rate of twenty-one rubles. If you accept it and do not demand interest, you can return the two rubles to me with my son. With heartfelt greetings, I remain your sincere friend, Peter Warkentin.

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104. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 11 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/74. Dear Brother Heinrich Cornies, Captain Hahn promised to repay the 2500 paper rubles he has owed me since last August.36 I have still not received anything from him. I would ask you to make the journey to see Mr. Hahn in person if he is no further away than the Romen market. Take along the promissory note, and ask him to discharge his debt to me of 2500 rubles immediately, because I have already asked my brother-in-law Boldt to receive the money from you in Ekaterinoslav. The interest is six per cent, less if I recover the capital sum that I need. Charge your travel costs to my account. In Piatigorsk, I promised Madame Hahn that you would help me to have a wheel-chair fashioned for her small child, who cannot walk. It should have four wheels. If she still wants such a chair, please see that she gets one. With kindest greetings, I remain, your loving brother Johann Cornies. 105. Johann Cornies to Peter Hahn. 11 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/75.37 Yr. Honour, Mr. Hahn, Please do not turn down my request, but I must ask you to pay my brother, Heinrich Cornies, 2500 paper rubles that I lent you last year. Because of an urgent need, I have asked someone to fetch the money from you in Ekaterinoslav. I very much hope that, even if you do not presently have the full amount, you will know where to find it in order that my messenger not return empty-handed. With appropriate esteem and complete respect, I have the honour to be Yr. Honour’s obedient servant, Johann Cornies.

36 Regarding this loan, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 15, and docs. 14, 23, 66, 70, 71, 104, 105, 132, 133, 206, 241. 37 Ibid.

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106. Johann Cornies to Boldt. 12 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/76. Dear Brother-in-law Boldt, Since Brother-in-law Neufeld informed me that you will soon be travelling to Ekaterinoslav, I would ask you to give the enclosed letter to my Brother H. Cornies. Should he give you the money, kindly bring it back to me. Together with the best of greetings, I remain your brother-in-law, Johann Cornies. 107. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 12 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/75v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Many thanks for your valued letter and the enclosed book. Although smaller lots of Spanish wool not sold immediately last spring have now been bought up here for an additional six or seven rubles per pud, there is nothing to suggest that wool prices will rise generally. Never before has the Molochnaia area experienced such a blessed and fruitful a year in its field and garden crops as this year. Wheat sales in the value of at least 300,000 rubles have fully compensated the community for the losses suffered because of the low price of wool. Although good ewes were reportedly selling for eight to ten rubles until shearing time, they are now going for twelve to fifteen rubles apiece. All of our neighbours are trying to buy sheep, including Jews who have abandoned their peddling. Surely a string of bankruptcies will follow from this development. I have still heard nothing from Sarepta about any assistance that they might need to improve their livestock. Otherwise everything is, thank God, as usual. With heartfelt greetings to you and your dear family, your faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. If they could be shipped to the Kharkov annual market, I would ask you to send me fifteen dozen good sheep shears and to charge them to my account. P.S. Once the sheep under the care of the Nogais have been shorn this coming spring, I might be able to persuade some Nogais to ship their share of the wool to Moscow for sale. Would you be willing to sell it? I need to know if I am to discuss the subject with people here.

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108. Johann Cornies to Oppenlaender and Blank. 15 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/76v. To Mr. Oppenlaender and Mr. Blank in Neuhoffnung, Yesterday, Sunday, 14 November, I was informed that State Counsellor Keppen’s two assistants, who had been awaiting him in the crown village of Mikhailovka, received orders to proceed to Orekhov to be there when the State Counsellor arrives. The two officials spent the night in Prishib. I expect that State Counsellor Keppen will have reached Orekhov by now. Since there is little time for him to travel to Petersburg, I doubt he will visit either our area or yours. I consider it my duty to notify you and schoolteacher Blank of this matter in time, as promised. I would also give you the following advice. It is my considered opinion that you should visit Mr. Blank immediately to first discuss matters with him and then with all persons who honestly have the well-being of your brethren at heart. Then send three of your men to Orekhov to present your concerns directly to State Counsellor Keppen, personally and in writing. Should Mr. Keppen not be in Orekhov, you could find out where he is. Were Mr. Keppen to come to the Molochnaia, it would not be a great detour for him to visit Prishib or Halbstadt. Do not delay if you and Mr. Blank want to do something positive for your community. Much will be lost if you waste time. Approach Mr. Keppen in Orekhov or wherever you find him. Should he already have decided to come to see you, you will have lost nothing but your travelling time. This discharges the promise I made to you. I would be very pleased if your petition were successful. With courteous greetings, I commend myself to you as your faithful friend Cornies. P.S. I have promised the messenger delivering this letter that you will pay him six rubles. Please do so. I request also a receipt, on a small piece of paper, showing that you received this communication in good order and that you have paid him the six rubles. 109. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 17 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/77v. Tavrida Civilian Governor Muromtsev, In response to Yr. Excellency’s esteemed communication of November, through Judge Kolosov, I am honoured to give Yr. Excellency my honest opinion about a purchase of Spanish ewes from Mr. Fein.

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If Fein is selling 1,000 completely healthy and thriving ewes no older than five years, with healthy udders, for twelve rubles per head, you can agree to this purchase without further thought. Still, such a purchase would be better for Yr. Honour if you agreed to have Fein keep the 1,000 ewes over the winter. This would be true even if you had to pay Fein thirteen rubles per head in spring, say on 20 March. In this region, sheep are often very thin during the summer, even with experienced owners. I would also mention that feather grass is very abundant on the local steppes and many sheep have died from it in several places. I have heard that in the region where Fein grazes his sheep, there is a huge amount of such grass. If you therefore took over 1,000 ewes from Fein this autumn and kept them over the winter at your own risk, it could easily happen that one third of the flock, or more, could die. It is also advisable to ask Fein whether the herd he is selling is free of “Raende” [bloating]. With great respect, I strive to be Yr. Excellency’s most obedient servant, Johann Cornies. 110. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 28 November 1837. SAOR 89-1-588/7. [Draft]: The notes about agricultural pursuits that Yr. Honour kindly sent me to look over and the comment about the Anhalt-Cotta settlement are interesting and instructive and I thank you for both. At the same time, I feel I should point out that some of the comments are neither clear nor correct. One, for example, claims that sheep in Askania had supposedly found better nourishment out on pastures in extremely cold weather than if they had been in a barn with abundant feedings of hay. Confirmed by twenty years of experience with sheep breeding in this region, I have observed that the finer a sheep’s wool, the thinner and softer is its pelt. This makes a delicate sheep sensitive and more subject to every climatic influence. I have developed my sheep so that most of them are still descended from Kalmyk fat-tailed sheep, improved through breeding with Spanish rams. At present their fineness and body structure can be considered equal to those of genuine Merino sheep. The first or second generation of these fat-tailed sheep bivouacked in the fields summer and winter, day and night. I had them fed with hay in a fenced off yard when the snow was deep or when glare-ice prevented them from using their feet to scrape up fodder from under the snow. I noticed that this did not have a good effect on them, and that I would have done better to feed

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them with hay during severe cold and to keep them in the barn, at least at night. At the time, I could not see any great disadvantages in this approach. But as the refinement of the sheep advanced, and their wool became finer, they became more delicate and susceptible to illness. Hence I was forced to build sheepbarns to protect them from the raw weather and to feed them hay. Otherwise I risked loosing twelve to fifteen per cent of the sheep annually and some twenty per cent of those remaining could lose their wool before shearing because of their misery. Since treating my sheep more compassionately, I observe their better health and stronger and better constitutions. The wool grows more evenly and becomes firmer. Now I no longer have my sheep driven out to the pastures when the temperature drops more that ten degrees below freezing. I have observed that even ten degrees of frost is harmful to the sheep on pasture. These delicate creatures grow thin, become rumpled and bent and their wool stops growing. This results in a light shearing. For these reasons it is unclear to me why, even during severe cold, the sheep in Askania were supposedly better nourished on pasture than in barns with good, abundant hay. I assume, on the contrary, that because of such treatment, this sheepfarm must lose more than twelve per cent of its sheep annually and the shearing will be light. If more than seven to eight per cent of such a flock dies annually (excluding the weeks of lambing), this is clear evidence that it has been attacked by a contagious and quickly spreading sickness or that the treatment of the sheep has been negligent and contrary to nature. I consider the given calculations about sheepbreeding to be accurate, since I have myself conducted such procedures with 300 to 350 head for twenty-two years. It is only natural that cattle breeding would provide few advantages for the Anhalt-Cotta administration, since a profitable dairy needs people who know how to conduct it from the ground up. It cannot be conducted as a matter of secondary importance. Nor can I agree that a Russian cow is as useful to a household as a German cow, unless it should happen that the Russian cow is one of the very best milk producers and the German cow one of the very worst. In our villages dairying is pursued by many for household needs and also for the sale of butter and cheese. One cow of East Frisian descent (one finds no others here), of good quality and with good pasture and fodder, gives seven to eight funt butter weekly, or fourteen to fifteen cheeses, estimating this locally over a span of thirty weeks. The milk is

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considered to be good for consumption until six weeks before calving. One cow brings in fifty-two to sixty rubles if a funt of butter is sold for twenty-five kopeks or eighty-four to ninety rubles if cheese is sold at twenty kopeks. To achieve such production, one must understand the treatment of the cows and their abundant feeding, their milking and the treatment of the milk itself. Not every servant knows how to feed cows so that they will produce as much rich milk as they can. Not every maid knows how to milk cows so that they will give much milk over a long time, and not every housekeeper knows how to handle milk so that it yields a large amount of butter and cheese. As for the suggestion that the cultivation of winter rye succeeds better there than summer grain, I think it worth noting that, on average, snowless winters here occur less frequently than in the region around Perekop and normally result in some degree of failure for winter rye. Our winter wheat is infrequently successful and its cultivation is not worthwhile because wheat, even more than rye, needs a consistent and continuing snow cover over the winter. Summer grain, on the other hand, usually thrives better here and is not as subject to changeable conditions if it is sown immediately after the snow melts in spring. But if ploughing and sowing are delayed until the grass on the fields begins to green nicely, dry winds have usually begun to blow. They hinder the sprouting of the seed greatly. Then the prospect of a good harvest of summer grain has been missed. The principal requirement for success with summer grain is good, careful cultivation of the fields. Johann Cornies. 111. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 1 December 1837. SAOR 89-1-697/5.38 My resolution is to increase the nurseries in the fruit orchard and also the forest-tree plantations to one million trees and more. My purpose is not only to extend my own orchards and forest plantations but also to disseminate them in this district at very low prices. Also, I want to demonstrate that, with appropriate treatment, it is possible to raise all varieties of trees from seed and to keep them growing well on the treeless steppes in this area.

38 This file contains a twenty-page statistical summary of trees planted on the Iushanle estate after 7 October 1830, not included here.

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My observations are that, in addition to fruit trees, the trees that thrive best here are the oak, birch, ash, varieties of maple, linden, elm, varieties of poplar, the service tree, hawthorn, wild olive, mulberry tree, the fir and Rhous Typhinium (vinegar tree). The price of young, improved fruit trees is fifty kopeks each and five to ten kopeks a piece for forest trees. Joh. Cornies 112. Peter Bartel to Johann Cornies. SAOR 89-1-426/28. Valued Mr. Cornies, Please excuse me for taking the liberty to burden you with this communication. I respectfully request that you advise me whether I should remind the District Office in Halbstadt about the demands I have on J. Neufeld in Lichtfelde. Would you be so kind as to do this for me? I think the matter would be decided more quickly if you were kindly to intercede on my behalf with the District Office. I would not burden you with this matter were I not so short of money. I request your gracious assistance and support through advice and intercession, and remain at all times, your most devoted Peter Bartel. 113. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 11 December 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/78v. Mr. Keppen. Your Honour, Gracious State Counsellor, I have the pleasure of enclosing: 1. The established terms or conditions under which, beginning in the year 1825, I introduced and disseminated the breeding of Spanish sheep among the Nogais. 2. A plan drawn up by my son for the new Nogai village of Akkania. It is to be established at the site which Yr. Honour kindly inspected personally on 5 December. May your humanitarian intentions receive noble and generous recognition and active encouragement. May the ever benevolent God constantly endow you with enduring good health to pursue your noble profession of furthering the state’s well-being, and bless you with the continued enjoyment of your daily life. These are my solemn wishes, as I deem it one of my life’s good fortunes to call myself, with sincere feelings of deep esteem, Yr. Honour’s totally and most obedient servant, Johann Cornies.

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114. Agricultural Society to village offices. 17 December 1837. SAOR 89-1-428/37. To village offices, Upon receipt of this communication, all offices must immediately use the following form to report the number of looms and spinning wheels presently functioning in each village as well as the number of additional looms and spinning wheels that will be put into service within the next fourteen days. Each village office should be as accurate as possible and not provide an approximate listing. 115. Johann Cornies to David Epp. 18 December 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/79. Mr. David Epp in Khortitsa, Correspondent, This is a friendly notification that your detailed account of 30 November 1837 regarding the sale of books of holy scripture, together with one hundred six rubles (banco assignation) with reductions, have been accurately received in the local Bible depot and have been deducted from your account. Willing to be of service, I remain your director, J. Cornies.39 116. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 22 December 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/84. Mr. Fadeev, The arrival of Yr. Honour’s letter of 20 November (received on 13 December) from St. Petersburg filled me with great joy. I was very pleased to learn of your safe and healthy arrival in St. Petersburg. May God sustain you, may He strengthen you and give you vigour and endurance for your noble profession. Mr. Keppen finally visited our settlements in early November. It is regrettable, very regrettable, that he could not stay longer but his time was too short and he had to hurry because winter was at the doorstep. At the Nogai aul Shuiut Dzhuret, where I showed him a new village like Akkerman on 5 December, I had just said farewell when winter descended in a snow storm and temperatures plummeted to

39 Cornies was the director of the regional Protestant Bible Society.

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twenty-two degrees below zero. I had feared that the cold stormy weather might overtake Mr. Keppen even earlier on his journey among the Nogais, and rob him of his health in the miserable Nogai huts. Thank God that his business in the local district was completed in a timely fashion. I humbly request that you forward the enclosed letter to Mr. Keppen. I do not know his address. Otherwise I would not burden you. In response to our heartfelt requests for changes in our administration, Mr. Keppen asked for written notes about the points on which we desire change. However, these could not be drafted quickly enough during his stay. We also feared that we were not knowledgeable enough about the relationship of the Mennonites to the state and about the views of the state regarding the citizenship of our local Mennonites. We therefore feared that we might raise points that could not possibly be approved or that would show us to be so biased in our wishes that we might be deemed unthankful inhabitants. Collectively, Mennonites are fortunate to be able to enjoy advantages greater than those accorded to other settlers in the Empire. You, Yr. Honour and State Counsellor, know our conditions concretely. Equally, you know the manner and extent to which Mennonites are useful to the state, and thus worthy of exceptions from the general principles governing the status of settlers. Mennonites are keen in spirit and zealous to demonstrate through deeds that the state did not act in vain in granting them such great advantages over other settlers. Should the government consider our problems as deserving of special exceptions to its general rules, we live in the firm hope that Yr. Honour, in partnership with His Honour, Mr. Keppen, will act wisely and with your esteemed insight to make arrangements that would redound to our well-being and the interests of the state. Calmly, in a spirit of absolute obedience, we await the arrangements that will be made for us, and anticipate them in a spirit of trust. Before the end of the Old Year, I would express my honest wishes for the New Year. May your affairs proceed propitiously and may good health and satisfaction sweeten your life. This would enable you to create conditions of satisfaction and happiness for others. May God grant you what you wish, according to His will. These simple words describe my feelings, as I remain, with all esteem and high regard, Yr. Honour’s totally obedient servant, Johann Cornies.

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117. Peter Keppen (Simferopol) to Johann Cornies. 26 December 1837. SAOR 89-1-426/52.40 I was pleased to receive your valued lines of 11 December and thank you for the map of the new villages. In my report to the Imperial Bureau I will find it necessary to mention your work again and again. You call the village Akkania, which I have heard before. Will the Tatars really stay with this name? If so, I would like the Elder, in the name of the community, to inform me accordingly so that I can use the name in my official report. The village should also try to provide a real stone well. Since the administration asked you to establish Akkerman and Akkania, I would make a request on behalf of our friend, history. Please retain the “Ak” [as a prefix] in the naming of future villages in whose founding you will also be involved. Are you, for instance, involved in the founding of the villages of Akthanni? Aksarai? Akdavar? etc.? I would like to see such a signifier used to catch the attention of researchers working on the history of the distant past. I have another honest request to make. Please write to me in friendship and trust. Delete those detestable titles in future letters. I do not care for them. People often misunderstand me, but these are my convictions and I hope to pursue my life with a good conscience. Timewasting titles only drive people apart rather than drawing them together. I would be much obliged if you were to include me among your friends. Please, if possible, answer the questions enclosed below. When you see Mr. Regier, thank him for filling my every request. My assistant was also happy with his visit. Still, I much regret the failure of the Head Forestry Director to visit your plantation on the Iushanle. I have reproached him accordingly. This can be blamed on Miliutin’s great hurry.41 He would himself have liked to visit your land, but there was no time.

40 Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, note 12, and docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610. 41 Nikolai Alekseevich Miliutin, the young Ministry of Internal Affairs employee who would play the central role in the Great Reforms of the 1860s, oversaw the inspection of New Russia for the Department of State Domains. See W. Bruce Lincoln, In the Vanguard of Reform.

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With honest esteem, I have the honour to be your devoted servant Keppen. [P.S.] In tables you kindly provided regarding the state of fire insurance in the Molochnaia Mennonite District, you listed the total capital for the year 1837 at 2,947,192 rubles. The District Office, however, provides a taxation value of 2,028,988 rubles for the buildings in the District. How do you explain the difference? Could 919,204 rubles cover buildings found elsewhere? How else might this be understood?42 How many desiatinas of land have you deep-ploughed at Iushanle for forest-tree plantations? I regret not being able to include this number in my report to the Interior Ministry. Received 1 January 1838. Answered 8 January 1838. 118. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 28 December 1837. SAOR 89-1-432/85v. Your Honour, Mr. Keppen, As we parted for the last time in the Nogai village Shuiut Dzhuret on 5 November, Yr. Honour asked me how many Spanish sheep the Nogais now possess as a result of my introduction of sheep breeding under explicit terms and conditions and for half the proceeds. I could not give you an absolutely accurate number at the time, but promised to report further. I have the honour to enclose an accurate summary of the number of breeding ewes I have introduced among the Nogais since the year 1834 and also of their progeny. The number of live sheep was counted on 1 May of this year, when the Nogais completed their main shearing. It also includes the number of breeding ewes I distributed among nine Nogai householders last November. I first introduced Spanish sheep among the Nogais in 1825, with six-year contracts. The second time was in 1828 with four-year contracts and the third in 1832, also with four-year contracts. The total crop failure in 1833 forced me to postpone the last introduction of Spanish sheep until 1834. If Spanish sheep breeding is to provide Nogais with greater advantages in future, I think it essential that the government institute measures

42 The Molochnaia Fire Insurance records provided to Keppen erroniously included the value of buildings in Khortitisa. Cornies responded correcting this error. See TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 117, 122.

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against the outbreak of “Raende” (bloating) by requiring that outbreaks in any flock be reported immediately to local authorities. They must ensure that the infected sheep are cured by the owner without delay and must supervise this. This evil constantly infects Spanish sheep among the Nogais. Although the sheep I have placed among the Nogais are clean of “Raende,” great effort and strict supervision are needed to prevent their infection from the Nogais’ other sheep. The negligence of Nogais in preventing this evil, or in curing it once it has broken out, exceeds the wildest imagination. It occasions a great loss of wool and sheep. With the greatest esteem, I am honoured to be Yr. Honour’s wholly obedient servant, Johann Cornies. Third introduction of Spanish sheep to be bred by the Nogais: sheep received: 1 November 1834: 39 householders 21 villages 1 November 1835: 17 householders in 10 villages 1 November 1836: 14 householders in 7 villages 1 November 1837: 9 householders in 6 villages In total

1969 ewes 913” 704” 460” 4046”

During the main counting on 1 May 1837, 70 householders who had received sheep in the first three years, had bred a total number of Ewes and sheep bred:

8954 Head 13,000 Head

119. Forestry Society to village offices. 31 December 1837. SAOR 89-1-428/33. To village offices, Enclosed is an overview of plantings in the twenty-eight forest tree plantations established in the first, second and third sections [of the afforestation plots].43 These copies are intended for use by the offices in 43 The overview, with its extensive lists of tree plantings, can be found in the original document.

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making an accurate copy of this overview. They should be brought to the attention of the householders in each village. After village offices have copied this overview, it must be sent on immediately, without delay, and returned from Schoenau to the Society by 30 January 1838. Society for the Dissemination of Plantings at Ohrloff, 31 December 1837. Chairman Johann Cornies 120. Certificate issued to employees. Undated (SAOR index indicates 1837). SAOR 89-1-433. – Johann Leonard Sommerfeld, Alexanderwohl, six years as secretary, for personal business, then also Society, dated August, 1837 – David Pelz, Rosenthal, apprentice (three years), then shepherd (two years) at Iushanle, March 1838 – August Wilke, Molochnaia settler, eight years as gardener, August 1838 – David Bewer, Kompenau village, three years as apprentice, three years as head shepherd at Tashchenak, August, 1840 – Isbrand van Riesen, Molochnaia Mennonite, one year as secretary, one year as manager at Tashchenak, March 1841 – Gerhard Toews, five years as coachman, March 1842 – Peter Stobbe, Schardau, and wife Elisabeth, four years at Tashchenak – Johann Sparwasser, Karlsruhe village, seven years as assistant gardener

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121. Promissory note. 2 January 1838. SAOR 89-1-496. On 2 January 1838, I, Heinrich Reimer, the undersigned Ohrloff village resident, borrowed from Johann Cornies of the same address four thousand rubles banco assignat without interest, until 1 March of this year, 1838. I promise to repay this amount punctually in cash on the abovementioned 1 March. I certify this with my signature, in my own hand. 122. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 9 January 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/2. Most esteemed State Counsellor Keppen, To begin, I must tell you honestly that my esteem and affection for you will remain constant and enduring. Please accept my warmest thanks for the friendly feelings you expressed in your communication of support that took me by surprise. Although I do not deserve the kind opinion you have of me, I can assure you that you will not have wasted your trust on someone unworthy of it. Please feel free to approach me if I could do you a favour in any way. I would gladly respond if your wishes are in keeping with what I can do. The ability to treasure true friendship is agreeable and pleasurable. With assurances of great respect, I remain your most dutiful servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. At present, the capital in our local fire insurance fund [Brandkasse] consists of buildings valued at 2,948,192 rubles, the basis for assessing all fire damage. The local senior fire insurance officer [Brandaeltester] reports the value of the assessed buildings in the Khortitsa Mennonite

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

District included in this sum at 919,204 rubles. The value of buildings in this [Molochnaia Mennonite] District is hence only 2,028,988 rubles, as the District Office has informed you. I have told the local District Office of this discrepancy.1 Of the seven desiatinas of land set aside for forest-tree plantings in Iushanle, five desiatinas, 656 sazhen have been deep-ploughed. It would give me great pleasure to be involved in establishing additional Nogai villages based on existing rules and regulations and beginning with the letters Ak. Should this not be possible, a Tatar name with noteworthy roots in the past might be used, basing the selection on a specific story truthfully told by the Nogais. Although I have often thought that partially uncultivated land in the Crimea could be better used, I hesitated to say anything because the inhabitants, especially the Tatars, are phlegmatic and not inclined to hard work. Even if ways of improving their conditions were suggested to them, they would not know how to put them into action. Ideas about management in the Crimea might be basically improved by establishing small model establishments of 100 to 500 desiatinas of land for private individuals in the area. Such enterprises would be easy to manage and supervise and, given the fact that workers in the Crimea are sparse and poor, would not require a large workforce. Owners of small estates might soon introduce methods on a larger scale that could become examples with broader applicability. For over ten years, I have thought of the possibility of settling a village of twenty to thirty Mennonite families in the Crimea at my own cost and on a contract basis that might develop communications with the Crimea. I had my eye on the Karakas estate for this purpose, near Staro-Crimea. Then owned by a certain Jong, it is now in the possession of a Mr. Kratscher. In fact I visited the Crimea in 1828 in the hope of buying it, but when I learned of a dispute regarding the estate, I backed off. 123. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 9 January 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/3v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, When I find a suitable cartage opportunity, you will receive a shipment from Kharkov of thirteen funt, one and one-half ounces of silk,

1

Regarding the Molochnaia Fire Insurance records, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 117, 122.

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packed in bast felt in a crate marked H.S. Kindly sell this at the best possible price. Several varieties of silk have been packed separately and will sell at different prices, depending on quality. I request that you note each item and its price. Please send me the information as a guide. Also, please send me the records of sale as soon as the silk is sold. The money need not be sent immediately, but can remain with you until we settle our accounts. I do, however, need the sales figures so that I can pay local owners and encourage their involvement in sericulture. With friendly greetings, I remain your devoted friend, Johann Cornies. 124. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 15 January 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/6. Dear Mr. Doehring, Thank you for your letter of 8 December. I was not at all offended that you were unable to write earlier. I know that you are involved in business matters that demand your constant attention. The contents of my letters were also not urgent enough to warrant a speedy response. The receipt of much detailed information from Sarepta and the report that you are alive and well has given me great pleasure. Allow me to give you my honest advice about the purchase of cows. A number of good cows will be available here for seventy to eighty rubles per head and I have made preliminary inquiries about transporting them. A man who has frequently moved cows from here explained to me that he could not undertake this transport for less than twenty rubles per head for twenty cows. He would charge less for a larger number and the price per head would be higher with fewer than twenty cows. He would cover all expenses incurred on the road to Sarepta. He would need three people and one wagon with two horses, regardless of whether there were ten or twenty cows or more. At least two of these people would have to be able to milk cows properly to make certain that they would not be ruined en route. The best time to transport them would be in spring, say mid-April. I doubt that I would be able to provide a breeding bull from my purebred stock. I only have two extra bulls and must first publicize their availability for sale in this community. However, I can obtain a good bull, of the same variety as the cows, for a price of sixty to seventy rubles. You must therefore assume that every cow will cost you almost a hundred rubles. If the cows should end up being a little cheaper, that would be to your benefit.

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I do not think it advisable to send along such a small number of sheep, much as I would like to. Spring lambing occurs at the best time for the cow transport to leave from here and sheep cannot be driven during lambing time. On the other hand, yearlings without lambs would have difficulty moving along with their wool, especially since sheep this year are shockingly thin. The number, moreover, is too small to send on a long march through uninhabited steppes. Since nights must frequently be spent out on the field, dogs and wolves could easily scatter them. In my opinion, this purchase should be put off until August. Then several hundred sheep should be purchased. Expenses per head would decrease depending on the number of sheep involved. Think it over carefully and consult with your brethren. Determine the number of sheep you wish to buy from me, but do it in good time. It would give me pleasure to be of service to you. At present, I cannot give you a firm price for sheep, since sheep are not sold here after Christmas. Last August, the price was twelve rubles for generally good quality sheep and fifteen rubles for better ones. I thought prices would fall in late September but when merchants arrived from outside they rose to fourteen rubles for good quality sheep, and they remain at about that level. I do not yet know if two wagons could be sent along for you and Mr. Langerfeld. One might be possible, and I will encourage the man driving the cows to take it. You will definitely get grafting shoots for various stone and kernel fruits, in accordance with the list I left with you. Once the route has been established by moving a livestock transport along it, then other shipments can follow more easily. But do not give up on this useful project, especially sheep breeding, even if problems occur. He who perseveres will eventually win. Nothing can better bring life to Sarepta and raise the prosperity of the inhabitants than the breeding of Spanish sheep. In the expectation of your trusting authorization, and with greetings to you, your dear family, and all my good friends, I remain your faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 125. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 15 January 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/4v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I hasten to answer your most valued communication that arrived last night. As for the introduction of English sheep in Sarepta and whether

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they would be the most suitable for this purpose, I think there is no good reason why English long-haired sheep should thrive in that area simply because the Don Cossacks have the best breed of sheep with long-haired wool. Still, I fear that they might soon decline on those steppes. I am not absolutely sure which breed of sheep the foreign service bureau has received in Moscow, since there are more than twelve varieties of sheep in England. I assume, however, that they must be the large, long-haired Lincolnshire or Leicestershire breed, which drops two to three lambs annually. It has wool ten to eighteen inches long that produces fleeces weighing ten to twelve funt. However, these sheep cannot be fed adequately on the dry pastures common here. They are accustomed to a dependably humid climate, with damp and less productive soil, and grass that remains green and fresh throughout the year. This is the reason their bodies produce long, straight, swan-white wool. I can say little about the sheep from Peters, except that they are located in Ekaterinoslav Guberniia. Count Vorontsov first had Peters purchase a considerable number of long-haired sheep from the region around Hamburg and drive them to our area. I did not pay much attention to these sheep because I knew from experience that they would not thrive on the steppes. When we came to this country thirty-four years ago, we brought along 230 of just such sheep that had prospered in the lowlands around Danzig, dropping two to three lambs and producing ten to twelve funt of wool annually. They could not, however, become acclimatized here and their wool production declined from year to year so that, at the end, we were able to shear only two to three funt from them. When I explained my experience with these sheep to Count Vorontsov, he immediately decided to transfer them to his estates in Kiev guberniia, where there are lowlands along the Dnieper. It is possible that they will thrive better there. All this makes it possible to understand my attitude toward the introduction of English sheep in Sarepta. The citizens of Sarepta are not people of the land. They are craftsmen who have little time to reflect about how foreign livestock might be acclimatized to their area. What I fear is that if they were to introduce sheep for which there is no convincing evidence of their potential to thrive, problems would arise that could make them even more unwilling to take up agriculture. Spanish sheep are suited to their land but they could still fail because any sheep-breeding requires understanding if it is to be pursued well. Situations frequently arise which completely ruin or destroy a whole

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sheep-farm. Such situations can often be prevented or are easily remedied by someone who knows what to do. I still maintain that Sarepta can be helped and turned into a vigorous settlement by the introduction of Spanish sheep-breeding. The land is there and means can surely be found. However, citizens should also be encouraged in the agricultural trades, especially by settling their children on the land. I would be much obliged if you were to send me, by return mail, two puds of good larch seeds, capable of germinating. I don’t need any other seeds right now. The printed aprons were manufactured locally. The best printed cloth and aprons are priced by the square vershok according to the following guidelines: sixteen vershok wide, thirty-four vershok long, in the desired pattern, at one ruble cash, including printer’s wages. Please purchase for me, at Rosenstrauch’s store Kosmedque, a bottle of unadulterated Rowland macassar oil, to encourage hair growth. With warmest greetings, I remain, as always your devoted friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 126. Peter Loewen to Johann Cornies. 29 January 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/58. Most valued friend, I have investigated the matter of sheep butchered in Burkut and found that Zid had butchered two sheep without the Mayor’s approval. However, he claims that in one case, between 12 November and 10 January, he fetched the mayor’s assistant, who gave his approval. Marhalu in Akkerman also butchered two sheep without the Mayor’s permission, one between 6 August and 1 October, the other between 12 November and 10 January. Hoping that you will report this to the appropriate place, I sign myself as your friend, Peter Loewen. Reported to Mr. Kolosov, 1 February 1838. 127. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 26 January 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/8v. His Honour, Gracious State Counsellor (Keppen), When it is eventually accepted that all varieties of soil can support the growth of trees, but not all varieties of trees thrive on every particular kind of soil, then it will be possible to plant trees here and there in

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the Evpatoria district, and even in Perekop where small wooded areas will thrive. At present, I am unable to suggest how such a planting might be started or what means might be appropriate to accomplish this purpose. Your opinions about settling three Mennonite families at each station along the two roads from Simferopol to Perekop and Eupatoria are clear and interesting. Although I agree completely that such a worthwhile project should be developed, I personally fear that problems and conflicts will arise. Where might one find settlers with the ability to carry out the purpose of such a settlement, even if it were to proceed gradually? Furthermore, such small settlements would be like islands in an ocean of Tatar land. How could settlers protect themselves from injury inflicted by their neighbours in Tatar villages? In your opinion, Mennonites might be most useful for this intended settlement. While good, industrious Mennonites manage to wrest adequate livelihoods and make good progress within their own community, it would be hard to find someone willing to settle in this way. Less industrious settlers would not be able to accomplish what should be done. Our community would not permit them to participate lest they become a disgrace to the community and draw the ire of the government. A life lived in isolation is also not in keeping with Mennonite customs and would be too lonely. Mennonites like to visit back and forth, sharing joys and sorrows. This is a principle of their religion. This is the way in which they help one another with brotherly support, edifying themselves spiritually and comforting and encouraging one another. Their children must be provided with enough schooling that would allow them, at the very minimum, to learn to read and write. [At the time of their baptism] they must be able to deliver their confession of faith orally in order to be accepted into the community and must convince the community of the propriety of their behaviour. This is essential and important to Mennonites. The community must know that a [candidate for baptism] has led a life which makes him acceptable and worthy of membership, a fact to be confirmed by witnesses. The situation would be a very different if a regular settlement, including professionals necessary in an agricultural economy, were established in the region near these roads. This settlement would need to have a house of worship and a school and be provided with a schoolteacher. [The proposed] road stations, with three families each, might be an extension of the larger settlement. Leadership and protection

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could originate from the settlement. To endure and become permanent, every settlement needs appropriate leadership, mutual encouragement, support and protection. For this reason the road stations must not be allowed to fend for themselves. Yr. Honour, these are my opinions about the suggested settlements, which I have expressed according to my insight and knowledge. With complete willingness I endeavour to remain your devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 128. Peter Keppen to Johann Cornies. 31 January 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/59. In great haste, I can only send you my most obliging thanks for your friendly communication and your opinions about the settlements suggested for the road from Perekop through Simferopol to Evpatoria. I request permission to discuss this subject with you again at a later date. With respectful regard, I have the honour to be your devoted servant, Keppen Simferopol, January 31, 1838. You are probably already aware that colonial settlements have been shifted to the [administrative oversight of the] new ministry [Ministry of State Domains], but only God knows how the whole system will be organized! I have heard from Petersburg that Fadeev is moving to a new position in Saratov. I am sorry about this. I would have preferred to see him as administrator of state peasants and settlements in Tavrida guberniia. I will be busy for another four to six weeks before I am finished here. Best wishes. 129. Gnadenfeld Christian School Society to Agricultural Society. 1 February 1838. SAOR 89-1-458/6. To the esteemed Society to Improve Field Cultivation and Trades at Ohrloff, To fulfil promises made at the consultation of 21 January with the esteemed Society, the undersigned most respectfully informs the esteemed Society about decisions taken by the Christian School Society at Gnadenfeld. Members of the Christian School Society assembled on 25 January at the Gnadenfeld home of School Society member Abraham Rempel to hear about the esteemed Agricultural Society’s suggestions and

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wishes. The results of this consultation were truthfully presented to them. After all viewpoints and reasons had been thoroughly discussed and weighed, all members of the School Society agreed with the conclusion and decision that Gnadenfeld would be the best location for the school. This decision rests on the following considerations: The intended plan for the proposed School is to educate male and female pupils and to mould them for life here on earth and especially for the kingdom of God. The preaching of God’s word about Christ and His apostles is ordained as the main means of achieving this end. Were the school to be located in Steinbach, pupils would seldom have access to preaching as a means of finding salvation and grace. Even with the best roads and weather, a teacher can not possibly ferry his pupils to and from Gnadenfeld church each Sunday and back again, even though it is the closest church. Even if it were possible to walk to school from Steinbach on a Sunday (which it is not), twenty, thirty, or more happy, often mischievous children on such a walk would naturally get into some sort of trouble. To lead such a number of children to the church is not possible, nor is it possible to fetch them home every Saturday. The latter is not even advisable and would not be beneficial for the education of the children. Were pupils not to attend church services on Sundays, except every six to eight weeks when a preacher visits Steinbach, this would be contrary to the clearly expressed word of scripture and to our confession of faith and would deprive the children of one of the major means of improvement. Moreover, who would supervise his flock of children while the teacher was away at church with his family? Attending church would naturally be close to a teacher’s heart and required of him as an example. How could we respond to people who say to us, whether their intentions are good or bad, that this school will estrange the children from the congregation and educate them to worldliness? How could we excuse ourselves if they became a generation little concerned with church and sermon, according to the precepts of the Bible. How can we answer to the Lord Himself? “In his old age, a boy will not leave that to which he has become accustomed.” It is true that a teacher could read a sermon to the pupils on Sundays but this could never replace the living warmth and freshness of words from a believing heart. It must also be considered an obstacle for the teacher as a person, to his enjoyment of fellowship within the congregation for his personal benefit and edification.

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The above obstacles and disadvantages can be removed by locating the school in Gnadenfeld. Since it is the custom of people in Gnadenfeld to assemble on Saturday evening to read and instruct themselves, the teacher could celebrate a quiet Sabbath service with his pupils. Sunday morning, pupils and the teacher could together go to the house of the Lord to hear God’s Word proclaimed undefiled and pure though varied according to talent and strength. They could do the same on Sunday afternoons and evenings in unconstrained gatherings that gave them the opportunity to learn from the rich treasure of Christian readings. In such ways the teacher could educate his pupils, young and older, in the venerable faith of their fathers and, through custom, enliven their desire to belong to the church and the congregation. During the week the teacher might frequently refer to the lessons of the previous Sunday and open the hearts of the pupils to the instructive words impressed on their hearts in both places. In this way church and school would appear in beautiful harmony. There is reason to hope that a youthful group accustomed by love and the power, as well as by example, would develop into a generation whose love for the house of the Lord and for His glory would not leave it later in life. This would be an indescribable gain. We would not have to lament with Paul that some, regrettably many, leave our congregations. One should also mention that school pupils cannot possibly be boarded with families in Steinbach because of the small number of inhabitants there. It would be necessary to construct a considerable dormitory where pupils could live, sleep and eat. The enlargement of the [existing] school building, depending on enrolment, would also be required. Such opportunities to celebrate Sunday would help the teacher in supervising and protecting his pupils. Experience shows that huge efforts are needed in keeping a large group of young children disciplined and in quiet propriety when the necessary activity of providing their spirits with purposeful occupation in the house of God is not available. Looking after the needs of pupils for shelter and food would also be easier and more suitable in Gnadenfeld. There would be no need to prepare and feed pupils in one place nor to saddle the teacher with such responsibilities. The result would be fewer disagreements, suspicions and evil gossip between parents and the teacher. There would also be no need to supervise pupils after hours, during their free time and while they slept. Were a teacher to become involved in all such matters

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he would have little time left over to teach and he would become embittered and exhausted. Other disadvantages might be cited about dormitory living, the chief being that such an artificial life, foreign to the family, is, in one word, unnatural to childhood. Many great educators consider it an evil to which one should take recourse only in extreme need. The prospects of Gnadenfeld as the site of the school are therefore better in every regard. A school building can be designed for its immediate purpose and would surely not be much more expensive than making an addition to the one in Steinbach. All Gnadenfeld residents have volunteered to provide cartage during the construction of the school, even those who are not members of the school society. Since a boarding school is not needed here all of the considerable expenses, discomforts, and evils involved in the creation and running of such a school can be avoided. Parents wishing to board their children with the teacher could agree on what was possible and desirable. Children might eat at the family table, join in the joys and sorrows of the family, and live under its supervision. In summary, their life would be like that at home. It would be natural. Parents with relatives, friends or acquaintances in Gnadenfeld might send their children to live with them. They would thus not become alienated from family life by being removed from it. They would start the day with other family members. They would sing and pray, eat and drink, and share waking and sleeping hours together. All concerned educators and pedagogues agree that the principle of a good education is that it should be natural. Everyone must consider this without prejudice as an important factor in Gnadenfeld’s favour. The school already functioning in Gnadenfeld is not an obstacle to the success of the society school, since the same situation exists in Ohrloff. Instead of inhibiting the Society School, the good school now existing in Gnadenfeld is more likely to promote it. The two schools might develop a healthy competition and the teachers might share their experiences, mutually promoting one another’s good work. In addition, who can guarantee the lifetime and time in office of one or another teacher, since no one knows how the future might intervene with change and transformation? There is also, of course, the question about small children living at Steinbach and how they might become eligible for admission to the society school. These are the reasons why the members of the school society remained firm in their opinion that it is appropriate to their purpose that their

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school be built in Gnadenfeld. The esteemed Agricultural Society was of the opinion that the school must necessarily function in Steinbach temporarily, because the lack of a new building would too long delay the school’s opening. This obstacle has now also been removed. The new society school can begin operation because church teacher Wilhelm Lange has converted one of his own rooms for use as a school room until construction has been completed. Twenty to twenty-six children can be taught here. Teacher F[riedrich] W[ilhelm] Lange started teaching nine pupils on 26 January.2 It was our obligation to give the esteemed Agricultural Society a straightforward explanation of the school society’s convictions and we have taken the liberty of doing so in the above manner. Our commission and our own innermost conviction obligate us to assure the esteemed Society in our own names and that of our brethren that these are the only reasons that motivate our belief that Gnadenfeld is more suitable for a society school than Steinbach and that we hold no prejudice, or preconceived unfavourable opinions, against the latter location. We are conscious before God that we desire only the best for this school and for the children to be entrusted to it. If it were possible to demonstrate, with sufficient and overwhelming reasons, that Steinbach presents more advantages and more favourable conditions and circumstances for the success of this school than Gnadenfeld, we would make no objections to its location there and would offer our help and support. As proof of this, it is only necessary to mention that Elder Wilhelm Lange and others among us were entirely in favour of Steinbach before this matter was thoroughly canvassed. Also, F.W. Lange declared before Christmas that he was prepared to take over the school in Steinbach, as the esteemed Society wished. We do not seek to damage the Steinbach school in any way or to render it superfluous. We believe that our settlement’s school system needs this school and others as well, to enable the settlement to develop as it could and should. We likewise wish to ascribe to the esteemed Agricultural Society nothing except an impartial viewpoint, free of

2 Friedrich Wilhelm Lange, nephew of Wilhelm Lange and distinguished teacher and Elder of the Gnadenfeld community. See Cornelius Krahn and Richard D. Thiessen, “Lange, Friedrich Wilhelm (1800–1864),” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (November 2010), retrieved 15 January 2014 at http://gameo.org/index. php?title=Lange,_Friedrich_Wilhelm_(1800–1864)&oldid=105290.

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prejudice. We believe it has nothing in view except what would be best for the school, paying no attention to the various unfounded and false prejudices against Gnadenfeld. We feel the Agricultural Society will make an effort to promote this school and are confident it will give us its complete support. We also feel encouraged to think that it will grant all possible help and support for our undertaking that was begun with God. With this hope, we remain with all respect and deference, the esteemed Society’s devoted friends, Benjamin Lange, Aron Dyck, Aron Rempel, commissioned by the Christian School Society and in its name. Gnadenfeld, 1 February 1838 130. Johann Cornies to Lange. 5 February 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/12V. His Honour, State Counsellor Lange, Please excuse me, Yr. Honour, that in spite of Yr. noble kindness, I did not immediately reply to your worthy communication of 26 December 1836. This was not because of tardiness or a disregard of duty on my part. On the contrary, I am touched and grateful for Yr. letter that encourages me to acquire a large, very considerable piece of land on the peninsula as a hereditary possession and offers me your help in this regard. This unexpected and undeserved offer, moves me to examine this question carefully and ask whether I have the ability to profitably manage such an estate. After weighing up my local situation and duties, I think I must decline the offer, however flattering and beneficial it may otherwise seem. As for your land, and the question of whether it might be put to more profitable use through the breeding of Spanish sheep, I would gladly give you my best advice. To do so, however, I should visit your lands, examine advantages and disadvantages on site, and personally discuss my findings with you. This can only be done imperfectly by letter. I therefore intend to visit you in the Crimea this summer. I would be very pleased if my intended journey were useful for you and repay you for your favour. With the most complete esteem, I remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. # # There is a landed estate of about 2500 desiatinas, called Karakas about twenty verstas from Feodosia, on the road to Karasubusar. Nine years ago I resolved to buy this estate and establish Mennonite

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villages on it, but I discovered that its ownership was in dispute and drew back from making the purchase. I have paid no further attention to the matter. Should you, however, be in touch with someone who can provide dependable information about this property, please discover if the estate is still for sale, can be bought advantagously and if its boundaries are still what they were. How many desiatinas of land are there? Under what conditions and at what price is the property available? Johann Cornies 131. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 11 February 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/13v. His Honour, Mr. State Counsellor Keppen, Since God’s thoughts are higher than are ours and his ways unlike ours, we must accept what we cannot change. These were my thoughts as I read, with a dejected spirit, your letter of January in which you so kindly informed me that our former benefactor, Mr. Fadeev, was being transferred to Saratov. Since his transfer from the Guardianship Committee to Astrakhan, we had continued to flatter ourselves with the hope that we might again have the pleasure of his active supervision and leadership. Indeed we took pleasure in anticipation of that perfect moment when we could reveal our sincere joy at his return. We are especially downcast that our hopes and wishes have now been dashed. For twenty years he was a father-figure for us, leading us like children and advancing our interests. He understood our conditions perfectly in every respect. We spoke to him in trust, as children to a father, without fear that we would be misunderstood. Our deep sorrow is justified and characteristic of our weakness as human beings. But we also know that nothing can be achieved through timidity and the fearful apprehension of a dark future. We therefore submit in trust to the administration’s will in the firm hope that our country’s wise and philanthropic government would replace our loss as well as possible, holding, as it does, the advancement of the welfare and happiness of its subjects close to its heart. Since you plan to spend a few more weeks in Simferopol, I enclose a copy of a letter I sent to you in St. Petersburg on 28 December 1837. It would be highly desirable if the already appointed officials were not allowed to interfere in the regulation of the Nogai settlements

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Akkerman and Akkuia to further their own interests. It might well cause these Nogais to become discouraged and obstinate. With the most sincere trust and the most honest esteem, I sign myself as Yr. humble and willing servant, Johann Cornies. 132. Johann Cornies to Captain Hahn. 12 February 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/15v.3 His Honour, Captain v. Hahn, Last year, upon your assurance that you would repay the amount owed me on 13 August, I gladly extended the loan period to that date. This was to have been the day when I would return the promissory note to you and receive the money. This did not occur and I take the liberty of again reminding you of your promise. You should have been able to make adequate arrangements in this regard by now. I am, of course, convinced of your integrity and have no doubt but that you will repay the debt to my brother, Heinrich Cornies, in Ekaterinoslav by 10 March 1838. Every delay causes damage and so I entertain the hope that Yr. Honour will not create further complications in paying my claims. With this assurance, I hopefully remain Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 133. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 12 February 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/16.4 Dear brother Heinrich Cornies, Please give the enclosed letter to Mr. Hahn personally. I am reminding him somewhat more insistently to pay the debt to you and have set 10 March as the final date for this to occur. Should he discharge his debt, calculate the interest at 5 per cent. If he does not pay, his indebtedness will continue. Charge your costs in this case to my account and report the results to me. Thank you for your welcome letter, reporting your dear wife’s safe confinement. May God keep you and bless your activities. All my loved ones and I send many greetings to all of you. “Adje.” Your loving brother, Johann Cornies. 3 Regarding this loan, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 15, and docs. 14, 23, 66, 70, 71, 104, 105, 132, 133, 206, 241. 4 Ibid.

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134. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 12 February 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/14V. Highly esteemed Mr. Doehring, The accompanying grafting shoots show that I am keeping my promise by sending you many varieties of plants already with you. Time will tell which varieties of trees are fine, exceptionally beautiful, goodtasting, long-lasting. Plant the poplar and olive-tree grafting shoots into moist soil at least one-quarter arshin deep, with only two eyes showing. Red acacia is always grafted onto American acacia. Cover in winter until it is growing well. It is best to graft spirea shoots on hawthorn but they may also be grafted onto pear trees. Please drop me a few lines that these shoots have been received in good order. With friendly greetings to all of you, I remain your humble friend and servant, Johann Cornies.5 135. Johann Cornies to Boschke. 14 February 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/16. Dear Mr. Boschke in Karass, I enclose grafting shoots of plums and cherries as promised, as well as cuttings of three very good varieties of gooseberries. You will find the name[s] of each on the enclosed list that match the numbers on the shoots. I hope they arrive in good condition, allow you to add several good varieties of fruit to your garden, and make them more distinguished. Push the gooseberry shoots deep into moist soil with only two eyes showing above it. Please let me know if these shoots have arrived in good order. As a denizen of the flat steppe, I enjoyed seeing even fleetingly the beautiful and romantic region of the Beushtan. Please extend my friendly greetings to Mr. Becker on the banks of the Potkumak, providing Cherkessians have not dragged him off to their auls [fortified villages]. When you reach Piatigorsk, please extend my gracious compliments to the Captain and his wife who gave me lodgings. Assure them that I still have fond memories of their friendly reception. With friendly greetings to you and your dear family, I commend myself as your friend and servant, Johann Cornies.6 5 6

The letter lists twenty-eight varieties of tree shoots. The letter lists six varieties of plums, seven of cherries, and three of gooseberries.

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136. Johann Cornies to Madame Fadeev. 22 February 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/17. Madame Fadeev, I can now fulfil your husband’s request of a year ago to send Yr. Honour two funt of American acacia seed for Astrakhan. Mr. Keppen’s report that your esteemed husband has been transferred to Saratov to discharge his official functions has filled me with genuine sadness. It leaves us much distressed. We had firmly hoped that he would have been returned to us as our Guardian and Director. A different decision has been made and our sorrow is great and justified. We cannot hope to have a superior who compares with him, one so knowledgeable about our circumstances and to whom we may speak in trust, without being misunderstood. For over twenty years of untiring activity he won our hearts. Now we must part from him as children from their father. Although our weeping cannot temper fears about a dark future we, as weak beings, still find comfort in these feelings. With assurances that these memories and gratitude will never be erased from our hearts, I remain for the rest of my life, his humble servant, Johann Cornies. 137. Heinrich Falk to Johann Cornies. 1 March 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/55. Esteemed friend, Since I learned that you need a miller on your estate, I would ask for permission to apply for this position. You may inquire about my work in other positions from our friend Flaming, who is delivering this, or by permitting me to see you at a specific time. I would humbly request that you send me an early reply. Your humble servant, Heinrich Falk. 138. Johann Regier to Johann Cornies. 2 March 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/53. Most valued friend, I hereby return your copy of the Short History of the Anabaptists since Their Earliest Times. I had a copy made for myself which is why I kept yours for so long.

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Thanking you heartily for your courtesy, I have the pleasure to be your friend, Johann Regier. 139. Forestry Society to village offices. 6 March 1838. SAOR 89-1-703/6. To village offices, Everyone knows well the damage that swarms of black starlings can do to cherry orchards and mulberry trees, and the financial losses they can inflict on us in only a few days. Even if we cannot destroy all of these destructive birds, we must take measures to reduce the size of their swarms and put a stop to their rapid propagation. During the last few years the numbers of these birds have increased greatly in our villages. There they build nests without interference, raise their young and set about destroying cherries and mulberries in our orchards. Every spring they return and double their numbers. The government has forbidden the killing of birds and animals and the destruction of their eggs and young between 1 March and 29 June. This prohibition, however, applies only to birds and animals suitable for human consumption or of some other use and not to birds harmful to inhabitants that inflict damage through rapid propagation. The latter are seen as injurious predators whose decrease or extermination is not forbidden. The Society orders village offices to require every inhabitant to make special efforts to destroy all starling nests containing eggs or young in their buildings. We must prevent an increase in their number in buildings or on the surrounding land before they can fly. They will shun our District and gradually stop treating our orchards as homes where they can calmly do their damage. Should swarms of starlings raised in neighbouring areas appear from time to time, they would just be flying by. Accordingly, every inhabitant of this District is obliged to keep his buildings free of starling nests between 1 March and 10 June and to destroy their broods. He should note the number of their nests, with or without eggs or young that have been destroyed during this time. This record, as on the enclosed form, should be sent [to the Society] by village offices by 15 June, with a note affirming that every village inhabitant has examined his buildings and land and destroyed all starling nests and that none of the young have flown away. Society for the Dissemination of Plantings in Ohrloff

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6 March 1838. Chairman, Johann Cornies; Members Gerhard Enns, Abraham Wiebe, Jacob Martens. 140. Agricultural Society to village offices. 6 March 1838. SAOR 89-1-428/31. To village offices, This order is a reminder that must be observed. All villages that have not yet systematically arranged their cultivated fields in four parts, must have them divided and arranged in this way by 1 May 1839. This must definitely be observed. Society for the Advancement of Field Cultivation at Ohrloff, 6 March 1838. First Colleague, Johann Regier, Members Gerhard Enns, Abraham Wiebe, Jacob Martens 141. Isaac Regier to Johann Cornies. 11 March 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/32. Greatest of friends, Cornies, Please do not take offence if I approach you boldly with this letter. It has come to my attention that you plan to set up a tavern in the Tashchenak. If this is the case, I would apply for a position, assuming that we can conclude a contract. Please send me your written response regarding your intentions with this messenger. With greetings of love, I call myself your dutiful friend. Isaac Regier. 142. Cornelius Wall to Johann Cornies. 12 March 1838. SAOR 89-1-426/7. Most esteemed Mr. Cornies, Please do not take offence with me for making this request. According to my inventory of books in the local community library for sheep and horned cattle breeding, I find that several books are still listed as out on loan to you, specifically the following three items: 1. No. 20. Rindviehzucht des Gantzen (Everything about horned cattle breeding) by Gutthardt, 2. No.4 Lustige Geschichte (Humorous story), 3. No. 22. Uebers Kathechismus (About the Cathechism). Your obedient Cornelius Wall

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143. Daniel Doehring to Johann Cornies. 18 March 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/2. Highly valued Mr. Cornies, Ten days ago I received the grafting shoots you kindly sent me for which I give you my warmest thanks. Please send me an accounting of the expenses and effort involved. The shoots have arrived in very good condition except for a few plum shoots that seem to have suffered, though only time will tell. Because our weather has been warmer, then cooler, off and on, I have managed to do little grafting in my garden. Today the temperature is down to six degrees. In my letter of 8 February, I ordered twenty-three good milk cows and a bull of the same breed. Meanwhile, two people have asked that this order be increased by two more cows making the total twenty-five cows. Extending my most friendly greetings to you and your dear relatives, I remain your willing servant and friend. Dan[iel] Doehring. 144. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 19 March 1838. SAOR 889-1-496/21v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Today I received your valued communication of 22 February and hasten to assure you that it never occurred to me to blame you for not yet selling my wool. Please do not be upset and believe me when I say that I have granted you my complete trust and know that you are making every effort to pursue my best interests. Proceed according to your best insights now and in the future. Since you have always done as I asked and to my complete satisfaction, why would I have reservations now, especially since the wool trade is terribly unstable this year, for buyers and sellers alike. My one regret is that I have had wool purchased at so high a price myself, but who could predict the sharp decline? Local wool prices are now twenty-nine to thirty-two rubles for last year’s wool in storage. I have heard nothing about speculations involving the new shear. Wool prices in St. Petersburg are said to have risen. The number of sheep has also declined sharply over the winter. A number of farms have lost most of their sheep and the number available for shearing will total several thousand fewer than was expected. Those surviving have little wool.

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Should you want to involve yourself in the wool trade this year, I would be happy to be of service with a cash advance. I intend to send you the Nogai wool for sale and would ask you to accept it for sale. I have not yet received the sheep shears from Kharkov, and have written to Mr. Roshov in this regard. I am grateful for the two puds of larch seeds that have not yet arrived, but are waiting to be picked up at the Aleksandrovsk post office. With friendly greetings, your faithfully obligated friend and servant, JC. P.S. I forgot to order the various Prussian agricultural newspapers at the appropriate time. Please, if you can, order them for me. I have been commissioned by several brethren in Sarepta to send them local cows of a good breed. 145. Friedrich Wilhelm Lange to Johann Cornies. 24 March 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/37. Treasured and beloved friend, I have taken the first opportunity, in friendship, to send you a wordfor-word copy of the constitution to which you referred. Please excuse the delay, but it was difficult to get the signatures. Three copies have now been signed and our friend Peter Schmidt is also in a position to provide them. Heartfelt and truthfully thankful for your treasured friendship and with an honest request that it endure, your Friedr[ich] Wilh[elm] Lange. Gnadenfeld, 24 March 1838. 146. Peter Reimer to Johann Cornies. 2 April 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/39.7 Most esteemed Mr. Cornies, As requested, I enclose the draft of a petition to be made on behalf of the Radishchev community. It is a draft that I would ask you to correct and return to me quickly for recopying. I assume you will want to edit it somewhat to make it less wordy. Commending myself to you wholeheartedly, your dutiful Peter Reimer.

7 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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147. Aron Rempel to Johann Cornies. 21 April 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/42. Highly treasured friend, We hereby inform you that the Society School in Steinbach will open its doors this coming Monday, 25 April, and humbly extend an invitation to you to be present on this occasion. With respect, in the name of the School Society, Aron Rempel. 148. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 26 April 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/25. Fadeev, I had the pleasure of receiving Yr. Honour’s communication of 19 February that has had a calming effect on me and my brethren who have the well-being of our community at heart. In winter Mr. Keppen wrote from Simferopol to report that you would not be taking up your administrative duties in our area when you leave St. Petersburg, but were destined to go to Saratov. He expressed his great regrets, saying that he would much rather have seen you here in Tavrida guberniia, administering peasants and settlers. What a relief it is to learn that Mr. Keppen had been incorrectly informed.8 I most thankfully returned the books by Pallas and Zwik that you kindly forwarded to me on 20 April. Pallas’s description of the Kalmyks contains more extensive information about the Kalmyks and Nogais. Relatives in Prussia forwarded an excerpt from Prussian newspapers regarding Marshal Marmont’s journey from Nogaisk to the Mennonite settlements.9 It is not quite accurate, however. The fault may well lie with the translators or with the interpreter through whom I answered the Marshal’s questions. Should it not require too great deal an effort 8 Fadeev had actually been posted to Saratov. The letter from Fadeev that apparently led to the misunderstanding is not extant. 9 Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, former aide-de-camp and friend of Napoleon, and instrumental figure in the French surrender in 1814. After Napoleon’s defeat Marmont loyally served Louis XVIII, following the king into exile in 1830. In the 1830s he travelled extensively in Eastern Europe. For Marmont’s description of the Molochnaia, see Voyage de M. Le Maréchal Duc de Raguse en Hongrie, en Transylvanie, dans la Russie Meridionale, en Crimée, et sur le Bords de la Mer D’Azoff, a Constantinople, dans quelques Parties de L’Asie-Mineure, en Syrie, en Palestine, et en Égypt, 4 vols. (Brussels: Sociétie Typographique Belge, 1837), I:356–61.

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on your part, honoured State Counsellor, kindly send me a translation directly from the French. I would be much in your debt. My wool was finally sold in Moscow for fifty-seven rubles cash per pud and the community’s for fifty-two paper rubles. Wool prices here are very low and there is still no demand. Deposits for old fat-tailed wethers are usually brisk in March and April, but there is no demand this year for the approximately 30,000 for sale. Prices for wheat are still high, from ten to twelve rubles, a situation that encourages field cultivation. A few agriculturalists have even expressed the opinion that field cultivation may now be more remunerative than sheep-breeding. The plough, once the tool of the lowest classes, has risen in the estimation of many to become an honourable implement. This has long seemed desirable. I enclose a short summary of accomplishments locally from which you can gather what progress we have made over the past year. The number of schools at a level somewhat higher than that of a village school has increased by one with the establishment of the Gnadenfeld School Society. The school opened its doors during the last few days under the diligent direction of a worthy schoolteacher, a Prussian Mennonite who immigrated last autumn. A second teacher has been appointed at the community’s expense who will assist Neufeld in the school housed in the District office building in Halbstadt. Improved house construction is spreading quickly. At present twenty men are fully occupied in various parts of the District, building fired brick houses similar to mine at Iushanle. The brick works in Schoensee and Ohrloff can hardly satisfy the demand for bricks. Since last September and throughout the winter, Nogai freight wagons have been creaking and groaning in almost all of our villages, loading wheat and transporting it to Berdiansk.10 This brisk traffic to Berdiansk pays Nogais 250 kopeks for every chetvert of freight delivered. Such money, earned easily during idle times of the year, can be put to good use in Nogai households. We had a severe winter with heavy frosts that continued for long periods of time. The lack of snow was highly detrimental for the tree roots. Then a dry spring arrived with a fierce east wind that raged for 10 The nearby port of Berdiansk opened in 1836, for the first time making commercial grain farming viable in the Molochnaia. See John R. Staples, Cross-Cultural Encounters on the Ukrainian Steppe: Settling the Molochna Basin, 1783–1861 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003), 123.

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fourteen days, blowing away the soil from the forest-tree plantations and ploughlands, and did great damage. Finally, on 20 April, I was able to persuade [Wilhelm] Martens to leave for the baths at Piatigorsk. He left cheerfully with courage and real hope for an early recovery. Matters within the community are generally still on their usual footing, but the will to make improvements has greatly increased. Economic and moral arrangements have become better established and clearly reflect improvement. We are fearful about losing our District Chairman and the senior Deputy next year.11 Both are men of energy and steadfastness who conduct the duties of their office to the satisfaction of authorities and to the advantage of our community. We will probably forfeit these benefits when the new District Chairman and Deputy Chairman take office. We assume that the changes may well prove detrimental to all aspects of the community’s well-being. You, Yr. Honour and esteemed State Counsellor, are quite well acquainted with the attitudes of Church Elder Warkentin. You know that District Office affairs cannot proceed in accordance with his attitudes and must not be allowed to do so if our morality and well-being are to be advanced. The current District Chairman Regier and senior Deputy Toews work to the community’s best advantage in cooperation with the Society, acting purely out of conviction. They are not sidetracked by Warkentin’s insinuations and obstinate behaviour that often leads to heated disputes between him and the District Office, but without diverting the latter from its goals. The Society has heard rumours that Warkentin wants to end this favourable situation by using underhanded means to ensure that District Chairman Regier and Deputy Toews are not re-elected to their offices in the next elections. Instead, the youngest Deputy currently in office, who is Warkentin’s close relative and shares his attitudes totally, is to be chosen. In my opinion, the latter will prove himself totally unfit for the position, even were his attitudes of a different sort.

11 This is Cornies’ first mention of the political disputes – known as the Warkentin affair – that would wrack the Molochnaia over the coming four years. Regarding the Warkentin affair, see John R. Staples, “Religion, Politics, and the Mennonite Privilegium in Early Nineteenth-Century Russia: Reconsidering the Warkentin Affair,” Journal of Mennonite Studies 21 (2003): 71–88, and TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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These circumstances cause me and many with similar views great sorrow. All of the four Elders, Bernhard Fast, Wilhelm Lange, Benjamin Ratzlaff, and Peter Wedel, are strongly of the view that District Chairman Regier and Deputy Toews should continue in their posts. They recognize that the election of a new Chairman and a new Deputy Chairman would result in the abandonment of much that is good. I would humbly ask that Yr. Honour inquire about these matters through the Guardianship Committee and make every effort to have Chairman Regier and Deputy Toews remain in their posts for another term, as provided for in the general regulations. By September at the latest, preparations should be in process to ensure that, with the new organization here, no new elections would be held during the present time for Chairman and Deputy Chairman. In other words, the present members would remain in their positions for a further three years. Contrariwise, were such arrangements to be made after an election, unrest might well up in the community. For this reason, I would again request that you graciously use your influence and kindly give me your view in a timely fashion so that I and others of the same opinion might orient ourselves accordingly. I have received no new volumes of the Konversations Lexikon [Encyclopedia] to date, but hope to get them in September or October if they are in stock and available in Germany. If so, I will send you a copy immediately. Also, no agricultural newspapers have been received through Mr. Blueher. With the most trusting esteem and constant devotion, I remain, as always, Yr. Honour’s most devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 149. Wilhelm Martens to Johann Cornies. 8 May 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/25. Treasured friend, I am sorry that I could not write Wednesday, 4 May, when we arrived. I sent someone to the post office immediately to inquire when the Crimean mail was to be dispatched. It now leaves only once a week, with the current departure on Monday, 9 May. Later, it will leave twice a week, when needed. I cannot write much about the journey. The weather was pleasant except for rain during the last two days of our journey. This, in addition to having left one horse behind in Medveshia, meant proceeding at only a walking pace. We had driven him too fast one day, then presumably watered him too quickly, and he had become

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quite stiff. We drove to Aleksandria, still forty verstas from Piatigorsk, with two horses and spent the night there because of the rain. In the morning we hired another two horses from our innkeeper, drove straight to Piatigorsk, arrived by noon, and stopped at the market. I immediately sent the letter to the Inspector and also made inquiries about accommodations. It seems to me that I could arouse little interest in my needs anywhere, because people here had received letters informing them that accommodations were to be prepared for two important persons. We took our troubles to Mr. Normann, who got us accommodations with a German man, Sonnenberg, quite close by, where we are now staying. We have a small house and are the only ones on the yard. As for my illness, things went well on the journey but now the old condition has again returned. Mr. Normann provided me with medicine that I am to take for several more days, and he then wants to start with the waters. He does not promise me a complete return to good health since the illness and I are by now both quite old. He does, however, hope for considerable relief once I have taken the cure. This is my hope as well. With a hearty greeting, I commend myself as your friend who loves you, Wilhelm Martens. 150. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 12 May 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/29v. Esteemed Friend Doehring, I had twenty-five good cows of Frisian descent and a breeding bull of exactly the same species selected for your community and was on the point of making deposits for their purchase. The persons who were to transport them were prepared to start their march on 10 May. Then, however, on 8 May, I was notified that hoof-and-mouth disease had broken out in the District. Fortunately there was still time to cancel the purchase, which I did immediately. By today, 12 May, I hear that considerable numbers of our local livestock have been infected and that the outbreak is forcing the chumaks who travel with their huge transports to wait beside the road. I plan to delay the dispatch of these cows until August. By then this evil will undoubtedly have cured itself. I will send along a young pureblood breeding bull from my pedigree herd but cannot satisfy your wishes for cows. In the time that I have had this livestock, I have had only three cow calves of this species available. I sell rams at prices from thirty-five to fifty rubles and also at 100 rubles.

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I have negotiated a price of 425 rubles for a wagon. However, since my son told me that he had been quoted a price of 250–300 rubles for such a wagon, I am uncertain as to what to do. Everything has become dearer here, especially iron. Turn this matter over in your mind and let me know if the price of 425–450 rubles is not too high for you. Given the fact that the refinement and improvement of the stock must occur step by step, the rams mentioned above will be best suited for your local sheep flocks. We must ensure that the wool does not lose its substance as it grows on the sheep. Please let me know. Perhaps the transport of sheep could be combined with the one for the cows. Sheep shearing time is upon us and 120 workers are busily shearing 20,000 sheep and sorting and packing transports to be sent to Moscow. With heartfelt greetings, your devoted servant J.C. 151. Johann Cornies to Wilhelm Martens. 25 May 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/31. Beloved Martens in Piatigorsk, I received your letter of 8 May from Piatigorsk, and was pleased to hear of your safe arrival. I send you my dearest wishes that you might soon regain your health. I gave your dear wife the enclosure and told her that I would write to you by return mail. She sends her greetings and told me to inform you that she is well, as is the whole family, and that everything in your household is as it was. Once the shearing is done and the decision made as to where she will ship the wool, she will report to you in detail. Our lease of the land on the Iushanle has been concluded for about 3,000 rubles (eight kopeks per desiatina). Jantzen has the strip from Tokmak to the Kurushan, but this should not affect us overly much. Very good rains have moistened the soil and summer crops are growing well, in some places even better than last year. The winter rye, on the other hand, will probably not produce much and may not even return the seed in some places. Now, my friend, fare well, be patient and endure. These are often the best remedies for poor health. Please pass on my friendly greetings to Madame Fadeev. Her husband wrote that she is there. More next time. May God comfort you. Adje. Your loving and sympathetic friend, Johann Cornies. P.S. Please have Nickel report to me from that region, especially about the Karass and Nikolaiev settlements. Greetings also to the gentlemen

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Paterson, Roshkin, and Becker. I have made inquiries about the latter’s sheep. Only some thirty head are still alive. 152. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 6 June 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/33v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, On 5 June I sent you my wool on twenty carts and the Nogai wool on thirty-two carts, for a total of fifty-two carts this year, with the request that you accept both shipments on consignment as you have done with my wool in the past. Enclosed is the original copy of the contract I signed with the carters. They are to receive a further 2012 rubles and 58 kopeks, estimated in half-imperials at 21 rubles 50 kopeks. Please pay this to the carters after the wool has been delivered in good condition. According to the enclosed bill of lading, the carters loaded a total of 141 linen sacks. From my sheep-farm, marked with the symbol J.C.: Electa 8, first variety 23, second variety 16, third variety 12, total 59. From the Nogais, marked with the symbol N: first variety 6, second variety 24, third variety 28, fourth variety 24, total 82. The Nogai shipment contains four sacks with the symbol A. This wool is less clean and was not washed as well as the rest. Please sell it under a separate account. This would enable me to make payments based on its likely low selling price. Should you sell this small quantity at the same price as the rest, please indicate a lower price because it is less clean. Please raise the price of the rest of the wool proportionately and inform me accordingly. As before, sacks in my shipment marked with # contain a special variety of wool, but it can be sold together with the rest of my wool. I do not need a special invoice. In addition to the above, Mr. P. Schmidt is sending 16 sacks of wool with my carts. It contains 146 pud, 22 1/2 funt net weight. The enclosed contract with the carters shows that they have received 247 rubles for transporting this wool. The carters request that they be paid the remainder in gold, estimated at 21 rubles 50 kop. per half-imperial which is to be drawn from the proceeds of this wool. With complete confidence, I leave these business matters to be carried out according to your best insight. With friendly greetings I remain, as always, your faithfully united friend and servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. I also notify you that I received the 14,000 paper rubles for my wool by mail.

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Please be so kind as to inquire about the price of the complete laws of Russia in German. Please obtain for me, on the best paper, the two titles noted on the enclosed record and put the cost on my account. Should they not be too difficult to send, please have them neatly bound for me in Moscow. The crate for Captain Hahn was received in good order and has been forwarded, as has the one for Pastor Steinmann. Special enclosure: I have already purchased 550 puds of wool on your account. The whole purchase will no doubt be completed during the course of this week. The purchase price thus far is twenty-four to twenty-five rubles per pud. I do not think that the other 800 puds of wool will be bought at a higher price. A few buyers have arrived, but they are still not offering more than twenty-five rubles per pud. Johann Cornies. 153. Phillip Wiebe12 (for Johann Cornies) to Halblaub. 21 June 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/36. Worthy Mr. Halblaub, I have been authorized by Mr. Johann Cornies to inform you of the following. Although he wanted you to come by next Sunday about the vacant gardening position on his estate in Iushanle, he finds that, upon reflection, he must inform you that you would not be suitable for this position. He feels it is his duty to let you know of this decision to save you the trouble of coming here. Your devoted, Ph. Wiebe 154. Johann Cornies to Ivan N. Inzov. 8 July 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/36v.13 Mr. Inzov. Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, Yr. Excellency is well acquainted with the zeal of the current District Chairman Johann Regier and the senior Deputy Abram Toews. They have worked to carry out the duties of their offices with unceasing

12 Philip Wiebe became Cornies’ personal secretary in 1838. He married Cornies’ daughter Agnes and, after Cornies’ death, went on to chair the Agricultural Society and become an important community leader. This letter marks his first appearance in the documents as Cornies’ secretary. 13 Regarding this election, and the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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diligence and to promote the well-being of the whole Molochnaia Mennonite community. As a result, the order and prosperity of the community has risen visibly and become well established. These two useful individuals will, according to the Instruction, have completed their terms of office by next 31 December. I have learned that they will not be re-elected to these offices. Insinuations of members of the community originating with one of the five church Elders, Jacob Warkentin, have contributed to this situation. The firm measures and sense of orderliness of these two District Office members are repugnant to him. He would like to see both removed from office. It would be seriously detrimental to the happiness and well-being of the community if Warkentin’s wishes were to be realized and his own relatives elected as District Chairman and Deputy Chairman. I and all of my upright brethren are therefore moved to request that Yr. Excellency kindly take the necessary steps to have the two men, District Chairman Regier and Deputy Toews, confirmed in office for another three-year term without an election in the community. In my opinion, the Guardianship Committee could facilitate this course of action before September at the latest, when arrangements to hold such an election have to be made, and order that a new election not be permitted. Yr. Excellency might kindly instruct and encourage the five church Elders to watch over the peaceful behaviour of members of the community. Four of the church Elders wish to have Regier and Toews remain in their offices. They too see the disadvantages of a new election that would provoke the community. If Yr. Excellency were to approve these steps in the interests of the wellbeing of the community, I would further have the courage to urge the following. If District Chairman Regier and Deputy Toews were to submit a petition to the Guardianship Committee to release them from the burdens of their office that they have carried for many years, their petition should not be approved even if it is made for valid reasons. It may well be that they would carry on grudgingly, since their sacrifices for the general wellbeing have been at the expense of their own economic well-being. With the appropriate esteem and deepest respect, I have the honour to be Yr. Excellency’s obedient servant, Johann Cornies. 155. Johann Cornies to Christian Claassen. 8 July 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/38. Much appreciated friend Christian Claassen in Grunau, I take the liberty to kindly request that your District Office provide three-month certificates for three people in my service: Georg

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Bliwernitz, and Maria and Regina Fast. This messenger, the Nogai Altshiren, will pay the necessary charges. I ask you to send me a bill so that I can charge this expense to the wages of the three servants. Hoping that you might make the arrangements to obtain these certificates and send them to me, sealed, with this messenger, I remain, with the greatest thankfulness and friendly greeting, your benevolent friend, Johann Cornies. 156. Peter Keppen to Johann Cornies. 20 July 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/4. Highly esteemed friend, Your kindness in agreeing to direct several excavations of steppe mounds prompts me to encourage the Imperial Academy of Sciences to sponsor the opening of several more tumuli under your obliging supervision.14 Since they will eventually have to be removed in any case, it would probably be advisable to investigate mounds already partly demolished at the villages of Neukirch, Muensterberg, and Rueckenau. The Academy has provided the enclosed 200 rubles and authorized me to encourage you in your promise. The choice of tumuli to be opened is left completely to your discretion. The Academy would request an exact description of the excavation and the forwarding of all items found in the graves, with particular attention to the skulls. I have further been authorized to ask you to investigate some of the innumerable smaller steppe mounds that exist here and there in the area of Mennonite settlement and also near Orekhov, and to kindly report their contents. Should the excavations require more than 200 rubles, the Academy will reimburse you upon receipt of an invoice. In conducting the excavations, I request that you select the time for this work that you consider most advantageous. Trusting in your gracious cooperation, I have the honour to be your devoted friend and servant, Keppen. P.S. I would gladly have provided you with a copy of the report of excavations of district counsellor Tietzmann in Askanianova, but the

14 Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21.

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original has been submitted to the Academy.15 I will, if possible, send you a copy later. 157. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 26 July 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/40. Mr. Keppen, Some Molokans from Astrakhanka and Novovasilievska have repeatedly asked me to send their signed petition to St. Petersburg. They are afraid that if they send it by mail, the petition may not reach your hands. I therefore take the liberty of using my handwritten address and seal to send the enclosed petition from the Molokans, with the humble request that you not receive it unkindly. With the greatest respect and appropriate esteem, I endeavour to be Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 158. Johann Cornies to Wilhelm Martens. 4 August 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/41v. Beloved friend Wilhelm Martens, I receive your letters with great pleasure. I can see that your health is improving markedly and am confident that you will return to us in good health. May God grant this. Everything in the community is much as it was. There is little hay this year, but the grain fields are developing extremely well and promise a plentiful harvest. Eleven rubles per chetvert is already being offered on the spot for immature wheat. The steppes are as green as in May. However, the feather grass is abundant and we are perplexed as to how to protect our sheep from it. I am having a machine built that would supposedly operate easily and could be sold cheaply. If this were to succeed, I believe firmly that very many sheep might be saved from death. I have heard nothing about the beverage lease. It will probably be delayed until you get home. Should the matter come up earlier, Neufeld and I will look after it. 15 A copy of Tietzmann’s report is in Cornies’ papers. The full report was published as “Ueber die Suedrissischen Steppen und ueber die darin im Taurischen Gouvernment belegenen Besitzungen der Herzogs von Anhalt-Kothen,” Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Russichen Reiches und der angrënzenden Landen Asiens 11 (1845), 87–135. See Vol. II, doc. 167 for Keppen’s request to Cornies.

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Your family is healthy but will not write to you until the persons sent to the Romen and Kharkov [fairs] have returned. Much of the harvesting will probably be finished next week. Wet weather has not caused much damage to date. The rain seems to be holding off and the very best weather favours our harvest. I was at the Ekaterinoslav wool market where demand exceeded supply. Prices were twenty-five to twenty-seven paper rubles washed. Some of the better shipments fetched up to thirty-two paper rubles. Unwashed wool sold at fifteen to twenty paper rubles Everyone is now waiting anxiously to hear about the prices at the Romen fair. I have been informed that wool has definitely gone up a little abroad. Few wethers were sold and many thousands are therefore still for sale. People are ready to sell them cheaply but there are no buyers. Mine sold despite these conditions. Thanks to friend Nickel for the news from that region. If the opportunity arises, could he ask Mr. Roshkii in Karass whether any of the grafting shoots I sent him have taken? Also give my greetings to him and to Mssrs Paterson and Becker. Should Mr. Fadeev still be there when this letter arrives, please give him my compliments. Friend Nickel should try to buy some of the rare Caucasian forest-tree varieties cheaply from the Circassians when they bring them to market, even if he can get only twigs. Those from the stalls decorated with silver will be expensive. Have the children kidnapped from the Karass settlers been returned? Now, may you fare well, with greetings from your faithful friend, Johann Cornies. P.S. District secretary Martens has died. However Neufeld has almost recovered. 159. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 11 August 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/44.16 His Honour, Mr. Keppen, I inform you that I received two hundred paper rubles from the post office. I will gladly try to follow your honoured directions and have several grave mounds opened in this region. The best time for such work here

16 Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21.

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is in March, April and May, when there is less field work to be done and people can be hired more cheaply. If possible, please send me a copy of the report written by Counsellor Tietzmann in Askanianova regarding the excavations of grave mounds carried out in your presence. I would find it useful as a guideline to understand clearly and correctly what might be significant in such excavations. I have never been involved in similar work before. The risk is that without guidelines I could easily, out of ignorance, leave something worthwhile and valuable unobserved. With greatest esteem, I am honoured to be Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 160. Johann Cornies to Hekel. 12 August 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/45v. Esteemed Mr. Hekel in Neuhofnungsthal, In response to your inquiry of 7 July, I hereby inform you that, on 23 September at my Iushanle sheep-farm, rams will be sold at prices from thirty-five to fifty rubles. I am willing to let you have an old ram that could serve you for several years in your small flock. In any case, you should observe the date given above, because I will not sell any rams earlier or later. Respectfully, your servant, Johann Cornies. 161. Traugott Blueher to Johann Cornies. 12 August 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/63. Mr. Johann Cornies, Ohrloff village. Highly treasured friend, Your transport of Spanish wool arrived on 9 August. Since the carters had rainy weather every day en route, some of the wool got very wet. However, there will be no damage because the wettest balls were spread out immediately to dry. I am satisfied with the quality and cleanliness of this wool, even though it was washed cleaner last year. I would note that it is only natural that it will turn out differently from year to year. My observations during inspection were excellent, especially that little low-grade wool was found mixed in with the healthy strong hair in this shipment. I am totally satisfied with the selection. I thank you for your friendly cooperation.

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I was very pleased to read in your communication of 26 July that the remittance had been received in good order. Wouldn’t Russian Imperials be more advantageous for you in your region? Without anything more for today, I send you my greetings with friendly love, and remain your devoted Traugott Blueher. 162. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 15 August 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/46v. Fadeev in Astrakhan, I received your esteemed and gratifying communications, dated 10 May, 15 June, and 16 July, and also the enclosed extract from the journey of Marshal Marmont in South Russia. I humbly return my most obliging thanks. The description of the marshal’s journey is in complete agreement with the reports I have received from Prussia. In keeping with Yr. Honour’s helpful advice in regard to elections for a new District Chairman and Deputy, I have made my own detailed submission directly to the Chief Curator.17 I would now like to continue my report to you of 26 April: Contrary to the signs of early spring that summer would be dry and crops fail, May was generous with warm with gentle rains that refreshed and revived the already half-dead grain fields. Nobody here can remember such heavy and continuing rain in this region in May, June, and July. To be sure, the grass did not revive completely but the harvest gave everyone sufficient hay for his livestock. The grain turned out very well, much more than was expected, and it has all been harvested. Wheat buyers have appeared. They are willing to make deposits on grain not yet threshed. According to my rough estimates, our District may well take in at least 360,000 rubles for wheat. All wool in this District was sent to Romen where it sold at an average price of twenty-eight paper rubles per pud. It totalled somewhat more than 15,000 puds, although only 12,000 puds of this total can be considered as having come from our District. If one subtracts the cost of transport to Romen and commissions, the clear profit for this wool is twenty-eight rubles cash for the producer. The net income for wool was

17 Regarding this election, and the Warkentin Affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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336,000 rubles. From this I conclude that the profits from field cultivation will exceed those from livestock breeding. Last winter’s heavy and continuing frosts occasioned shocking damage in our forest-tree plantations. Exact counts show that 41,000 foresttrees were frozen. Orchards also suffered greatly, but trees that escaped the freeze grew well in the damp weather. In some orchards, apple and pear trees are so thickly covered with fruit that they had to be propped up. This encourages people to plant more. I was in Ekaterinoslav on 29 July. Lamentably, the crown’s orchard is in a mournful condition. Many trees with trunks as thick as a man have dried up, many others are partly dead, and the tree nurseries are totally gone. This previously magnificent and useful orchard is reverting to its original condition as a wild thicket. Much of the area is now a hay meadow and I myself saw a considerable rye field in it. I was told that everything not too firmly rooted had been stolen, etc. The situation in Khortitsa remains the same as before, up and down. The mulberry plantation seems to have met its end. Most trees froze last winter, as did very many fruit trees in orchards and around houses. There is little enthusiasm to replace dead trees or to make improvements. Several Mennonite families from our community now live in Berdiansk. A number of people intend to construct warehouses for wheat storage there. Abram Wiebe of Rudnerweide, for example, is doing much trading in grain with Berdiansk and will build warehouses there this year. Berdiansk is a busy locale and its communications with our community are active and astonishingly useful. Field cultivation here is increasing noticeably, raising morals and wealth. Ohrloff’s new church was tastefully constructed of brick, right up to its roof, and this makes Ohrloff village more beautiful than before. My own economic establishments are proceeding as they have in the past. I am now constructing fired brick agricultural buildings at Tashchenak. I have resolved to make the appearance of this estate better than that of Iushanle, with attractively constructed agricultural buildings and well laid out gardens of forest trees, fruit trees, and vines. The plantations in Iushanle are doing exceptionally well, especially the forest-tree plantation, and this autumn I intend to enlarge it with new plantings of two to three desiatinas. Gardener Wilke is moving to the Crimea and I have already hired another gardener to replace him. A goodly number of people are occupying themselves with sericulture and the Society has decided to construct a reeling-device to unwind silk.

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Feather grass is an evil that has befallen our sheep herds. It grew abundantly because of our frequent rains and grows as thickly as if it were a field of grain. I am having a machine built to cut down the feather grass and reduce its evil effects that could result in the death of thousands of sheep. Should the machine work it will be of incalculable usefulness, saving many thousands of sheep from certain death. Once tests have been done, I will report their results. District Secretary Gerhard Martens died at the beginning of July after more than three months of illness. Otherwise, thank God, everything is as it was. My son has not yet married and is managing the Tashchenak estate. With all esteem and devotion, I remain Yr. Honour’s well-inclined servant, Johann Cornies. 163. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 29 August 1838. SAOR 889-1-496/52v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Thank you for your communication of 5 August. Your observations about the Nogai wool are absolutely correct and not unexpected. Almost 100 small herds are scattered over an area of ninety verstas in the district. Add to this a variety of washings when the wool is sorted, and the result is inevitably a mix-up. I can find no way of making better arrangements since the Nogais are still too uncivilized and have no practical sense. When the wool has been kept in good condition on the sheep and is washed as well as is possible, the result should be the best wool ever produced by peasants in our local area. I will have your observations translated into the Tatar language so that they can be presented more clearly to the Nogais. I have made considerable advances to the Nogais for their wool but they still overwhelm me with their questions, especially asking whether their wool has been sold. Please let me know in this regard to free me of this burden. Kindly sell it as you suggest, and send me a remittance together with a detailed accounting. My children are both healthy and well, thank God. Johann is now at Tashchenak and Agnes at Iushanle. Both give me much help in managing my estates. They remember you with fondness and send warm greetings to you, your dear wife and children. My wife and I also commend ourselves to all of you. With unchanged honesty and love, I will continue to remain your faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies.

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P.S. On 22 August, I dispatched a shipment of twenty-five cows, one breeding bull from my own breeding stock, sixty highly improved young ewes, and seven young breeding rams, including two genuine Merinos, to quiet, friendly Sarepta. This is a first attempt to encourage agricultural pursuits. The same. 164. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 29 August 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/49. Highly Esteemed Mr. Doehring, On 22 August I finally had the pleasure to dispatch twenty-five cows, one breeding bull, sixty ewes and seven breeding rams from my sheepfarm to Sarepta. They were all healthy and in the best of condition. They are under the care of the Mennonite Cornelius Eydsen. I anxiously hope that they will reach you in the same condition. I had the best cows bought as cheaply as I could, as you can see from the enclosed accounts. All livestock here have come down with hoof-and-mouth disease. They have suffered greatly and are very thin. I therefore told Eydsen that if he finds it advisable he should feed some of the cows oats en route and that you would make good his costs. The cows, on average, are young. They should, with correct handling and care, be valuable. To make sure that nothing goes amiss, I enclose a small description of their derivation, care, etc. I have sent you one of my purebred breeding bulls (whose name is Tiger). By breeding him with these cows, you should be able to raise a nice breed of cattle that are good milkers. All the sheep come from my own herd, from a category that I usually do not sell. However, since the number wanted was small, I decided to let you have one-year-old ewes from the flock that should acclimatize better there. Fifty sheep are marked with “O” on the lower back, and ten with an “O” on the upper back. The latter are for you. They are of a somewhat higher degree of breeding, but much the same in regard to wool. Of the seven rams, two are marked No. 1 and No. 2 on the horns and branded “S.” They are of pure-bred Merino derivation. The two rams have been selected for breeding with the sixty ewes. If one should fall, allow only the other one at the ewes for breeding purposes. The other five “Metis” rams, Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, with the long brand mark, are bred to a high degree but must not be allowed at the sixty ewes for breeding purposes. Since they are almost as good as pure Merinos in

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their wool production and its fineness, they can be used to improve the lower breeds of sheep. For the whole transport of sheep and cows to Sarepta, I have made an agreement with Eydsen for 540 rubles, the silver ruble at a rate of four rubles. He received 300 rubles when the transport departed and he should be paid the outstanding 240 rubles upon arrival. Eydsen has assumed the expenses of the transport for pasturage and transportation over rivers. However, he is not responsible for accidents. I felt it necessary to send two goat wethers along with the rams to ensure that they are not as easily frightened and easier to transport. I have asked Eydsen to demonstrate and teach some of the maids [in Sarepta] how to milk according to the Dutch manner as we do locally. It is not a great art, only a very simple procedure, and easy to learn, but a milker must know it. To increase the safety of the transport, I have taken the necessary precautions. I have had a canvas enclosure made, sixty feet in circumference, to pen in the sixty sheep at night. There are halters and cords with stakes to tie up each of the seven rams; cords with stakes for each of the cows and a halter to fasten each one; also eight linen feed-bags to feed the cows with oats, should that become necessary. All this was acquired on your account and belongs to you when the livestock is delivered. You will pay eleven rubles, eighty-five kopeks for it. You should have a ring drawn through the nose of the breeding bull en route or when he arrives because bulls usually become ill-tempered with age. I have given Eydsen one of these rings. Should there be a young Kalmyk close by, who is twenty to twentyfive years of age and willing to spend two years on my sheep-farm learning the rudiments of Spanish sheep breeding, please send him to me. He must be sensible, nimble and sober-minded. I would, for my part, give him sixty rubles per year for clothing and his complete board. He could accompany Eydsen but would need the required passes. I naturally leave all of this to you, and am only speculating. I have not been able to find anything here about steppe-wort. Perhaps it grows in the Crimea. I will write and ask Mr. Steven about this question and where seed is to be had. According to the enclosed account, you will see a detailed list of my expenditures of 1385 rubles, plus 2309 rubles eighty-five kopeks, in total 3694.85.

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My family and I send friendly greetings to you and your dear family and all dear, good friends, with my assurance that I will remain your willing servant, Johann Cornies. 165. Johann Cornies to Cor[nelius] Eydsen. 29 August 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/54v. Very dear friend Cor. Eydsen in Sarepta, When you receive the money from Mr. Doehring, be careful with it on your return journey so that even the Russians with you do not know that you are carrying it. One does not know what kind of people they are. They may be dazzled by the money, led to evil thoughts, and try to steal it. When you arrive in Sarepta, please ask Mr. Doehring to report your arrival to me at once and also when you leave on your return journey. I wish you a safe return journey, your friend, Johann Cornies. 166. Johann Cornies to Walter. 29 August 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/55. Your Honour, Mr. Walter, Royal Prussian Consul in Odessa, I have received your esteemed communication of 6 August, and hasten to discharge your trusting commission. A village called Gnadenfeld actually exists here in the Molochnaia Mennonite District with a schoolteacher named Friedrich Wilhelm Lange, whose wife, Friederike Henriette, formerly Klug, forty-two years old, was born in Arenswalde, Brandenburg province. Her father was the master tailor Christian Klug, who is said to have died in 1818 in Neudessau near Driesen. Her mother was Charlotte Sophie, nee Polenius, who is said to have died in Montau, near Graudenz in 1819. The married couple, schoolteacher Friedrich Wilhelm Lange, with his spouse Friederike Henriette, formerly Klug, have eight living children: Julius eighteen years old, Hermine fourteen, Laura twelve, Clementine ten, Maria eight, Wilhelm six, Luise five, and Johannes two years of age. With the greatest esteem, I have the honour to be Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies.

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167. Franz Peters to Johann Cornies. 10 September 1838. SAOR 89-1-517/10. Mr. Cornies, I hereby send tiles purchased for you and for the church, all loaded on seven chumak carts.18 When they arrive in good order, please pay the applicable cartage charges of forty kopeks in silver per pud, as itemized on the two accompanying bills of lading. Please note that I hired the chumaks to transport the tiles only as far as Ohrloff. If you would like to have some of these tiles transported immediately to your sheepfarm, you must reach an agreement with the chumaks yourself. If the two bills of lading, or the enclosed account for moving the tiles, is not sufficiently clear, Fedor, the Russian should be consulted. He arranged for the shipping. With greetings, your humble, Franz Peters. 168. Johann Wall to Johann Cornies. 1 October 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/7. To Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, treasured friend, Grace and peace in Christ Jesus, Last year I obtained a map drawn by the teacher H. Franz in Gnadenfeld, which includes both the Mennonite and the [German] colonist districts on the Molochnaia [River]. Villages, yards, roads, boundaries, mills, churches, ravines, plough and pasture lands all appear with great accuracy. The names of householders are given. An extract of statistics for the year 1836 is included. After they saw it, several people suggested that the map be lithographed. There was even such a request from Russian authorities. I decided to publish it and entered into a contract with a lithographer for approximately seventy-five thaler. I intend to donate the profit to our school treasury. After a few weeks, the lithographer wrote to say that, because the information on the original was very detailed, he could find no one to produce it for the agreed-upon price. He is now asking for a considerable increase. I told him that we should set the matter aside for the present because it occurred to me that since

18 The chumaks were carters and small merchants.

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the map had been drawn as early as 1835, quite a few additional places should be noted as well. Since this undertaking will interest only you, please send me your comments as quickly as possible. I have asked my son to visit you and he will give you our news. Things are going quite well for us except that I am often sickly and weak. My only pain is that I cannot love Him, who loved us and died for us, more faithfully, zealously and steadfastly. I would be very pleased to receive a personal letter from you soon. Also, I send my heartfelt request that you pass the enclosed leaflet on to my son Johann when you find a possibility. You can catch him at Wiebe’s in Rudnerwiede. I thank you in advance for this service of love and hereby send you my heartfelt greetings. May God keep, strengthen, guide you, from your brother who is united with you, Johann Wall. 169. Philipp Wiebe (for Johann Cornies) to Pastor Holtfreter. 5 October 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/58v. Most esteemed Pastor Holtfreter, In response to your communication of 19 September, I have the honour to report on behalf of my employer Mr. Johann Cornies that the settler and shepherd David Bewer cannot possibly make the journey to visit his mother because of the wet weather. He feels obliged to help her in her pressing situation with a small gift. In response to Mr. D. Bewer’s obedient request you are asked to advance four silver rubles to his mother from your own means. Mr. Cornies wishes to spare you a journey to Mariupol to receive the money. He assumes responsibility for reimbursing you for the four silver rubles as soon as he can.19 With the appropriate esteem, I sign myself as your most devoted servant, Ph. Wiebe, Business Secretary. 170. Philipp Wiebe (for Johann Cornies) to Traugott Blueher. SAOR 89-1-496/59. 6 October 1838. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, In 1837, you sent us a shipment of Bible stories. In our settlement there is a demand for such volumes, especially books appropriate for 19 This money was sent on 28 October 1838 – see SAOR 89-1-496/60v.

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children and for use in schools. Authorized by Mr. Johann Cornies, I would ask you to kindly ship 200 copies of such books when a transport opportunity becomes available, even if only as far as Mr. Heinrich Cornies in Ekaterinoslav. Please ship the two foreign works requested earlier from St. Petersburg, addressed to Mr. Johann Cornies at Novoaleksandrovka. Since they cannot be expected on writing paper until July 1839, please send copies printed on ordinary printing paper. Respectfully, your humble servant, Ph. Wiebe. 171. Abraham Toews to Johann Cornies. 9 November 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/21. Esteemed Friend Johann Cornies, The Inspector has notified us that General Inzov and Member Evdokimov have just arrived in Prishib. The District Deputy Chairman (since the Chairman is away), you, and Wilhelm Martens should all appear in Prishib tomorrow morning or as soon as possible. With heartfelt commendations, your devoted friend Abraham Toews. 172. Johann Cornies to District Office. 14 November 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/61. District Office in Halbstadt, Isbrand Friesen, recently deceased inhabitant of Tiegenhagen village, has owed me 400 silver rubles since 2 April 1833, at which time he reported that he needed the money for a short period of time. Since Friesen never appeared to settle his debt, the honourable District Office is humbly requested to assist with an early restitution of the abovementioned 400 rubles, as well as the six per cent annual interest, from the estate left by the deceased Friesen. Johann Cornies. 173. Johann Cornies to Jacob Thiessen. 14 November 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/61. To the esteemed Orphans Administrator Thiessen in Tiegenhagen, You are hereby notified that the deceased Isbrand Friesen has owed me 400 rubles since 2 April 1833 plus 132.62 rubles interest at six per cent annually from April 1833 to 9 November 1838 (five years, seven months and seven days), total 532.62. With esteem, Johann Cornies.

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174. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 15 November 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/63. State Counsellor Fadeev in Astrakhan, Wilhelm Martens returned home from Piatigorsk in September, healthy and in good condition. When you visited him in Piatigorsk, he promised you that I would send you several funt of spun wool by mail. Martens immediately tried to carry out his promise but could not find good, spun wool. It needed first to be spun. Nor could he get the desired amount, only two and one-half funt that he sent to me fourteen days ago. I am now forwarding it to you, labelled “Litt A”. There was a delay because I was away at the time and otherwise weighed down with so much business that my correspondence was a mess. At 9 p.m. last Wednesday, with no prior notice, His Excellency the Chief Curator, and His Honour, Mr. Evdokimov, arrived from Odessa on the post road through the Mennonite settlements from Altona to Prishib. Everyone was astonished, wondering what the purpose of this surprise visit might be. I was in Tashchenak at the time with the District Chairman of Poltava Guberniia, hiring workers for the community sheep farm. One of the deputies was at the District Office, the other sick at home. A special messenger ordered me to Prishib. I had no idea of the purpose of this visit, especially in such bad weather. Finally it was revealed to me that someone in the [German] colonist District Office had behaved disrespectfully and in a rebellious manner toward the Guardianship Committee. This was especially true of District Chairman Werner who had previously been dealt with moderately and with consideration, as had his colleagues. They were now dismissed from office with the stipulation that they not be chosen for any offices in future. The officials stayed in Halbstadt for a day and a half and then, having discharged their duties, returned directly to Odessa yesterday, 14 November. As for our local situation, with Yr. Honour’s kindly disposed guardianship, District Chairman Regier and Deputy Toews were chosen to fill their offices for another three-year term.20 The Head Curator’s communication to all of the church Elders reminded them sternly of their duties and this had a salutary effect on the whole community. Once a 20 Regarding this election, and the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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directive from the Guardianship Committee had instructed the District Office to desist from proceeding to the selection of new officials before it had received permission to do so, opinions and dispositions changed markedly. After the Committee’s permission arrived, the District Office carried through a new election. A large majority of votes again elected Regier and Toews as two of the District Office members. This places these individuals in a position where they can work energetically and assert their authority firmly. On behalf of our community, I give you my respectful and heartfelt thanks for your great benevolence and efforts on behalf of our brotherhood. With constant, respectful remembrance and diligent devotion, I remain Your Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 175. District Office to Johann Cornies. 16 November 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/61. To the honorable Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, In response to a report of 14 November, you are hereby notified of an order from the District Office that the creditors of Isbrand Friesen from Tiegenhagen are to appear before the Orphans Administrator, not at the District Office, so that their accounts might be completed. Please send someone directly to Orphans Administrator Thiessen in Tiegenhagen. He should be able to record the sum owed to you, with interest, and possibly also pay out the money in cash. Deputy Toews. District Office in Halbstadt, 16 November 1838. 176. Johann Cornies to District Office. 17 November 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/65. Halbstadt District Office, I have the honour to reply to your communication of 16 November. I was aware of the regulation that you circulated, in which the creditors of Isbrand Friesen of Tiegenhagen were directed to the Orphans Administrator, Jacob Thiessen, for a settlement of their claims. I submitted my demands to him. However, the Orphans Administrator cannot return the sum owed to me, which Friesen borrowed for a short time and in a confusing manner. The honourable District Office is again requested to urge the current owner of the deceased Isbrand Friesen’s dwelling-place to repay the

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sum of 400 rubles together with annual interest of six percent from 2 April 1833 to January 1839, amounting to 136 rubles 3 kopeks by 1 January 1839 at the latest. Expecting that this humble request will be attended to through the honourable District Office, I have the honour to be the District Office’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 177. Johann Cornies to Goldschad. 25 November 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/70. Highly esteemed Mr. Goldschad, I received your letter on 6 March and was grieved to learn that your house had burned down, leaving you in sorrow. Still, do not let your courage falter, regardless of how difficult this loss may be. Try not to keep thinking about what you cannot remedy. God gives and He takes away. We are all in his hands and he alone knows the purpose of such an accident. You asked about my sheep sales. I have no more sheep to sell now, having sold more than 2,500 ewes to estate owners in Saratov, Voronezh, and Kursk guberniias, to the Crimea and to local Germans this autumn. The first variety sold for fifteen rubles, the second and third varieties for twelve rubles. I have about 200 good rams available annually, but do not sell them before 23 September. I then make three varieties available, every variety separated out for the sale. Prices are 100 rubles for the first variety, fifty rubles for the second variety, and thirty-five rubles for the third variety. All are two years old. All of the first two varieties are purebred, while the third are very highly bred “Metis”. As is well known in neighbouring guberniias, I have kept these prices constant for a number of years, and also the date on which the sale period begins. At present, all my rams have been sold. More will be available next September as will about 100 good young ewes, or perhaps a few more. I might also sell 600–700 yearling ewes immediately after shearing time this coming spring, but I have not yet made a firm decision. I will notify you about my decision. I would wish you and your dear family genuine prosperity. Should you decide to do business with me of the type mentioned above in future, rest assured that the quality of these sheep will not dishonour you, since my sheep farms have been developed over twenty-seven years with sheep stock perfected through breeding with purebreds. With friendly greetings I remain your devoted servant, Johann Cornies.

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178. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 28 November 1828. SAOR 889-1-496/71. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Throughout the summer my business affairs have pulled me in so many directions that I was unable to keep up regular correspondence with you. Please excuse me. The local administrative officer had your comments regarding Nogai wool translated into the Nogai language and brought to the attention of Spanish sheep owners in all six villages of the Nogai district. Most thought the remarks informative, but judging by their faces, many Nogais will have difficulty accepting them. When they are involved in the wool trade themselves the Nogais bridle at any delay in receiving their money, but it is impossible to meet their exaggerated expectations. Since you now know something about the quality and excellence of the Nogai wool, you might like to have some local [Nogai] wool bought on your account next year. I would do my best for you in this regard. I enclose my receipt affirming receipt of 29,775 rubles 75 kopeks in 1369 Russian half-Imperials for the Nogai wool. Many thanks for the 200 copies of Bible stories, although they have not yet arrived, and for the two funt of larch seed. I will not subscribe to the agricultural newspapers this coming year, but would ask that you order the Prussian state newspapers in my name and have them sent to my address. I would be obliged if, over the course of the winter, you could send me three funt of good pine (pinus pecia) cones and one funt of pinus cembra seeds by mail. With friendly greetings, I commend myself to you as your friend and servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. State Counsellor Steven requested that I ask you to find out how stearine candles are made. If you can get directions in this regard, please send them to me. Receipt: 29,775 rubles, 75 kopeks in 1369 Russian half Imperials and also a detailed account have been received for the wool forwarded 5 June 1838 to the firm G.A. Soerensen & Company, in the Sarepta Trading Firm in Moscow, to be sold on consignment. As certified by me, this sum is for eighty-two balls labelled Litt. N, containing 920 Pud 1 3/4 funt net. of Spanish wool. This concludes this business matter with my signature, in my hand, and with the impression of my seal. Ohrloff, 28 November 1838. [Seal and signature] Johann Cornies

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179. F. Dellinghausen to Johann Cornies. 7 December 1838. SAOR 89-1-589/2. Mr. Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, Melitopol Uezd, Tavrida Guberniia, The Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains seeks to be in contact with men in the interior of Russia who can contribute advice and take initiatives in matters that promote agriculture. Its attention has been drawn to you, and to the report received from you regarding the salutary effect your work has had on economic conditions among inhabitants of your region, and especially on the Nogais. The Committee, for this reason, has selected you as a corresponding member. As president of this committee I hasten to inform you about this recognition of your services and present you with your diploma as a Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, signed by the Minister. I am convinced that you will accept this honour willingly and, from time to time, inform the Committee about the progress of field cultivation in southern Russia. The Committee would be especially thankful for your views about methods of promoting such cultivation. With honest esteem, I remain your humble servant, Baron F. Dellinghausen. 180. Johann Klassen to Johann Cornies. 14 December 1838. SAOR 89-1-491/72. Valued friend, Since the District Office has asked me to inform it of my debts, on 1 July 1836 I asked you to give me an account, specifying the exact amount of money that I owe you. I have now received another communication from them in regard to this matter. I have assembled all accounts except for the amount I owe you. I cannot state this amount exactly and am therefore asking you to kindly provide it. I have long planned to visit you for a few hours as a friend, and will come by to see you at Christmas time or earlier, to pick up the above. Heartfelt greetings to you from your friend, Johann Klassen. 181. Johann Cornies to Johann Wiebe (Neuteich, West Prussia). 19 December 1838. SAOR 89-1-496/75. Unforgettable friend, I again turn to you with a request. The manager of my Iushanle estate, Dirk Wiens, would like to pay 240 thalers Prussian currency, on

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my account, to his brother-in-law Sprunk, who resides in West Prussia. I would respectfully ask that, when the abovementioned Johann Sprunk appears with a bill of exchange from me, you kindly pay him 240 thalers on my account in exchange for a receipt. The money, with applicable interest, will be repaid promptly next spring when I find a secure opportunity to do so. Your sheepfarming with the Iedishan Nogais has grown over the past year. This is especially fortunate, because sheep were dying almost everywhere a year ago. Dysentery killed several thousand sheep and a number of sheepfarms, with considerable losses, declined greatly. As of 1 August 1838, your flock of 216 sheep consisted of: With Nogai Meglemambet from Agilchosha: 52 old ewes; 24 lamb ewes, 26 lamb wethers; 1 breeding ram. Total: 103. With Nogai Meglarip Boday: 55 old ewes; 30 lamb ewes, and 27 lamb wethers; 1 breeding ram. Total: 113 The accounts for wool proceeds will already have been sent, or will be sent shortly by your cousin, Mr. Jacob Wiebe. I trust that your sheep will continue to thrive, and that your capital yields interest rates as high as those on the capital I invested with the Nogais on similar terms. Together with heartfelt greetings, I commend myself to you as your friend and servant, Johann Cornies. Upon the presentation of this communication, the merchant Johann Wiebe in Neuteich will, at my direction, pay out two hundred and forty thalers Prussian. Please put this sum on my account. Johann Cornies. 182. Agricultural Society to Village Offices. Undated (1838?). SAOR 89-1-703/11v. To all village offices, The Society for the Dissemination of Plantings and Advancement of Agriculture and Trades finds it necessary to check on the transfers of both fullholdings and half-holdings. It is generally known that directives and orders from higher authorities do not permit settlers to transfer fullholdings whatever the reason, except when the fullholding has fallen into decay and can no longer be worked. According to the directives, anyone assuming a fullholding is required to have no fewer than three souls capable of doing the required work and must have the capacity to do agricultural work and the intellectual powers to manage the fullholding. Transfers of fullholdings until now have been the responsibility of the District Office and the Society. They were only approved if they

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promised to improve the fullholding and not to promote business interests. The general transfer of fullholdings is only permitted if visible improvements in all branches of the fullholding are in evidence. The Society hereby informs all inhabitants that it will in future not agree to the transfer of a fullholding unless it is obvious that the owner has planted a considerable number of fruit trees in the orchard according to rules and regulations, and has maintained the orchard so that it is growing well. This also applies to forest-tree plantations. The fullholder’s cultivated fields should be well worked and in good condition. His buildings must be in an orderly state of repair, even if the buildings are small, and cleanliness and order should be observed in and around them at all times. He must pursue potato and flax cultivation to a considerable degree, and his livestock should be properly watched over and kept in good condition. In general, order and diligence must be recognizable in all parts of his fullholding. It is obvious that the Society does not demand the construction of large granaries or other buildings and does not consider them as necessary improvements to a fullholding. Its primary interest is to ensure that everything has been accomplished through order and diligence and holds out promise that the holding will maintain its position of well-being for the fullholder and provide him with a life free of debt. This is the only way in which inhabitants can achieve this goal, which is also the objective of the country’s high government. No one can therefore assume that he will have the right to transfer his fullholding to someone else within a few years, unless he himself feels he will no longer desire a holding in future 183. Agricultural Society to Blumenort Village Office. Undated (1838?). SAOR 89-1-703/27. District Office communication No. 49, dated 20 February, reported to the Society that Gerhard Driedger, Mennonite in Blumenort Village, wants to take over fullholding No. 3, left by the late married couple, Gerhard Driedger. As is well known, this fullholding requires considerable improvement in all regards. Administrative orders of the high government oblige the Village Office to assess Gerhard Driedger’s position clearly and conscientiously. Is he in a position to take on the fullholding, improving and working it in the orderly manner required, without falling into considerable debt?

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Although Gerhard Driedger is the fullholder’s son and is fully entitled to take it over from his deceased parents, this is not permitted unless he is capable of managing a fullholding and is in possession of sufficient funds to improve it without falling into considerable debt. Fullholdings are the Village Mayor’s responsibility and the Blumenort Village Office must examine the Driedger fullholding in detail to determine if it can be improved and managed by the heir, without falling into excessively heavy debt. The Office must report to the Society by 27 February. 184. No. 126. Blumenort. Undated (1838?). SAOR 89-1-703/28. Following the Village Office report of 25 [February], the District Office and the Society for the Dissemination of Plantings and Agriculture made the following decision about the Driedger fullholding at today’s meeting. They took into consideration high administrative orders about fullholdings and also the Directive about the interior administration of settlements. All branches of the fullholding left by the deceased Driedger couple can be improved and expanded in every regard only if the interest on the capital owing from this fullholding is withheld by the owner of the fullholding for a period of five years. Immediately after the Village Office receives this notification, it should indicate to the heirs of the capital owing, that they must leave the capital intact without interest for a period of five years and that they must make no demands on the owner of the fullholding during this time. The Office is obliged to oversee this matter and to ensure that the fullholding is significantly improved in a short period of time.

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185. Report for 1838 by Johann Cornies. 1 January 1839. SAOR 89-1-512/1. Achievements in the past year have further improved and developed almost all branches of agriculture in this District. Field cultivation has made rapid and uninterrupted strides forward. Some 18,492 desiatinas, 962 fathoms of cultivated land are now being worked following a fixed system of field cultivation. Land is divided into four fields. Three parts are seeded and the fourth, unseeded, is left to lie fallow during the summer when it is ploughed and harrowed lengthwise and crosswise several times. This promotes production of selected crops and destroys weeds in ways that ensure that the nourishment seeds need from the soil and air are not wasted. Frequent working lightens the soil, penetrates it with fructifying air, and has results that equal one application of manure. Trials of fertilizing fields with ashes have been made with good results. Potatoes are increasingly cultivated on fields and 20,771 chetvert were harvested over the past year. One can assume that other branches of agriculture will be improved and perfected in similar fashion. In the past, the growth of hay meadows has suffered from a lack of moisture, and resulted in frequent shortages of feed. In the meantime, artificial watering through the construction of thirty-six earthen dams has spread its benefits to 1384 desiatinas, 893 fathoms of hay meadows. Watering in fact can more than double a hay crop. Such dams, moreover, will almost certainly serve our neighbours as examples and promote advancement in the breeding of all types of agricultural and domesticated animals. The result will be fewer fodder shortages, which

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

tend to occur frequently in this region. As for the increased cultivation of potatoes, it will further increase the fodder available for sheep and cattle. At one time, people were convinced that flax could not be successfully cultivated here because local steppes were too dry and their elevation too high. There was little impetus to plant flax, even for household needs. Under the Society’s purposeful leadership, however, the cultivation of flax has advanced so quickly that 1862 puds, 9 1/2 funt of good flax were harvested and beaten last year. This resulted in savings to the community of a large sum of money that had previously been expended for the purchase of flax grown outside of villages. The growing of flax also provided useful employment to a large number of human hands in wintertime, protecting villagers from evils that accompany idleness. Last winter, 2378 persons who would otherwise have been without work were employed in the spinning and weaving of flax. Last summer was an especially fruitful season. We had warm rains at suitable times and our grain grew so luxuriantly that “Arnaut” wheat stalks, on many fields, reached a height of six feet. Arnaut and Hirka, “Kisil Sha” in Tatar, both varieties of summer wheat, are cultivated. The Arnaut wheat kernel is heavier and more productive in dry years. The straw, tastier for livestock, is more nourishing, and can better withstand storms because of the firmness of its straw. Hirka, on the other hand, is lighter and more subject to failure. Its straw is reed-shaped, softer and lower in quality and in quantity. Given the pattern of its growth and the usefulness of its straw, Arnaut wheat seems to recommend itself as the best wheat for our area. However, plants that have the best chance of thriving within our new four-field system cannot yet be clearly determined. Grass on hay meadows suffered much during the last snowless winter and was not able to recover well. Hay only flourished on meadows that had received sufficient moisture from flooding in spring. In contrast, the growth of our grain fields was highly encouraging, appearing as a vast sea of wheat. The harvest, especially abundant, yielded an increase of fourteen- to twenty-two-fold, an average of fifteen-fold. Rye, however, suffered from a lack of snow cover last winter and returned only the seed. This District delivered 40–45,000 chetvert of wheat to [the new port of] Berdiansk and profited with an income of almost 600,000 rubles. Mennonites have built warehouses for grain in Berdiansk and the traffic between this port and our villages is brisk. Nogais cart all of our

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grain to Berdiansk for charges of 150 to 200 kopeks. This provides them with a useful and very profitable winter occupation. Field cultivation is also spreading markedly among the Nogais, but they are reluctant to abandon their old routines and practices for field cultivation and embrace superior ones that produce higher yields. Wherever people engage more fully in field cultivation, they become more tightly bound to house and land. As culture improves, it reduces the number of lighter workdays, of which there were many in the past. Last year, 13,396 puds of wool were transported from our community to the Romen wool market, and sold at an average of thirty-one rubles per pud. Twenty-nine rubles were paid here on the spot. The price for fat wethers was nine to ten rubles each. Young male sheep sold at five to six rubles, and breeding sheep at twelve to fifteen. Good milking cows cost eighty to a hundred rubles and the best horses two hundred to two hundred and fifty rubles. Wet summer weather led to a variety of livestock illnesses. Horses suffered from glanders and there were outbreaks of flaps and foot-andmouth-disease among cattle and sheep. Generally, all of our livestock remained thin. Fat wethers, which, in our usual dry weather yield thirty to thirty-five funt of tallow, last year produced five funt and seldom more than ten funt. The wet weather in autumn was particularly detrimental for the young lambs when a dysentery-like diarrhoea broke out and more than one-third of the lambs died in many flocks outside of this District. Flocks accustomed to grazing in winter suffered especially from the loss of a snow cover. Wool in most flocks stopped growing, shearing will be very light and the wool insubstantial. The raising of sheep among the Nogais has reached a critical stage. Half of their sheep have died because of a shortage of fodder and the plague, while those that survived will produce very little wool. Moreover, since the plague spread among the Nogai flocks, the Nogai community has lost much of its enthusiasm for the breeding of Spanish sheep. It would be highly desirable for the government to issue directives to the Nogais ordering them to cure their Spanish sheep of the plague. The snowless winter of 1838, with its severe, long-lasting frosts, was extremely detrimental to the fortunes of trees in our orchards and forest-tree plantations. Many thousands of fruit trees froze, including their roots. Stone-fruits were hit the hardest. Some orchards were totally ruined and must be planted again. Little fruit was produced last year, but cherry trees not damaged by the frost were thick with cherries. Stone-fruits could still be found here and there in some orchards, and

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had good flavour and a fine scent that may have been occasioned by the fruitful summer weather. In the forest-tree plantations, 41,000 trees of all varieties were killed by the frost, most of them ash trees. In this region, patience is required when conditions detrimental to the growth of trees occur. We must not lose courage until our fruit orchards and forest-tree plantations have been enclosed within living fences of hawthorn and mulberry trees. This is already being done. Tree plantings will be protected when these hedges have reached a height of three to four feet. Trees will then be subjected to the detrimental effects of unfavourable weather much less frequently and severely and demonstrate that it is possible to transform these steppes into a region of abundant, thriving, and enduring trees. Forest trees killed by frost in the plantations have been replaced by fresh trees planted in the same places. The plantations have made further progress with the planting of another 24,000 forest-trees. Fruit orchards were also enlarged and last year preparations were made to plant another 7324 fruit trees. Nurseries to provide seeds and improved varieties of fruit are multiplying quickly. It can be expected that in a few years the District will have a surplus of several thousand improved fruit trees for sale to outsiders. Finally, a decision has been made to prepare next summer for the planting of trees along the post road leading through the District. This will prevent travellers from losing their way, beautify our villages, and render the region through which the road passes more pleasant. Little progress in the production of silk has hitherto been possible because the mulberry trees lack sufficient foliage to support a larger silkworm industry. Still, during the past few years, greater interest in this branch of the economy has been aroused through the unceasing encouragement of the Sericulture Society. With thousands of mulberry trees already growing in orchards and forest-tree plantations, it can be expected that silk cultivation will come of age when these trees eventually reach their maturity. Last year, only twenty-four funt five lot of silk were produced and reeled here. Beekeeping is still at a low level, with only 266 beehives in the District. It seems that our weather has kept beekeeping from prospering. Our bright, warm March and April days encourage bees to fly about, but the usual raw, cold May weather causes them to become sluggish and again enclose themselves in their cells. There is also insufficient pasture and water needed by bees at any time of year. Beekeeping has thus not been able to maintain itself here and last year produced a total of only thirty puds, thirty-two funt of honey.

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Wine cultivation is hardly worth mentioning because the number of vines is small, only ninety-five in the entire District. Agriculture, in general, has made significant progress during the last few years. The advantages of purposeful field cultivation are clear on every hand. Activity is brisk and with favourable grain prices, general prosperity increases rapidly. The construction of better houses and agricultural buildings is evident in all villages. Two brickworks already exist, and produce about half-a-million fired bricks annually. This is still insufficient to satisfy demand and two more will be set up in 1839. Preparations are being made to manufacture Dutch roof tiles. Until recently it was necessary to transport all of the required lime from Bielgorod in Kursk guberniia. Now, however, it will be burned from stones located on Doukhobor lands on the east bank of the Molochnaia. Tests show that the lime produced there is of superior quality to that from Bielgorod. The production of better agricultural implements and machines also marks the progressive improvement of field cultivation. Sixty-seven threshing machines are now in use in the District and are proving their value to such a degree that several estate owners have recognized their potential and are having such machines built for themselves. Machine builders are correspondingly busy. Three horse-driven chaff-cutters were built experimentally last winter and they may well be an inducement for the introduction of more barn feeding, a step forward even if, at the beginning, it is done for only a portion of the working livestock. Due to the aforementioned industry and activity, daily and yearly wages are rising rapidly. Labourers are not available for less than one ruble per day in winter or 200–250 rubles annually. We cannot cherish the hope that agricultural improvements will lead to lower daily and yearly wages. In fact it would be detrimental to our local civilization if we were to depress the wages of the class that performs heavy labour. Moral instruction is also receiving attention. Societies have been formed to support the establishment of post-elementary educational institutions suitable to our current circumstances. The Ohrloff Society School has existed since 1821 and now has an enrolment of thirty-eight pupils. A second society school with forty pupils was established in Gnadenfeld last year. Only pupils who can already read and write and understand basic arithmetic are accepted into these schools. Each school is divided into two classes. In addition to the religious instruction essential to general human education, the curriculum includes the rules of the German and Russian languages, history, geography, arithmetic, and drawing. The primary purpose of these schools is to educate

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teachers for our village schools. Suitable teachers were hired for these institutions from among educated men from the Prussian Mennonite community specially trained for the teaching profession. The District School is another educational institution with two teachers, one for German and the other for Russian. Its purpose is to train secretaries, bookkeepers and others for service in the community. It now has twenty-three pupils. The formation of a reading society has given older persons an opportunity to obtain a better education and purpose. Its library contains many useful religious, historical, and economic books for anyone interested in reading. The membership fee is a minimal silver ruble per year. It has, at present, holdings of seventy-five titles and one hundred and twenty-three volumes. Several persons subscribe to newspapers, such as the following: St. Petersburgische Akademische Zeitung (St. Petersburg Academic Newspaper), Preussische Staats-Zeitung (Prussian State Newspaper), Allgemeine Landwirtschaftliche Zeitung (General Agricultural Newspaper), Baeyrische Buerger und Bauern Zeitung (Bavarian Citizen and Peasant Newspaper) Garten Zeitung (Gardening Newspaper), Odessaer Bothe (Odessa Messenger) and Taurische Gouvernements-Zeitung (Tavrida Guberniia Newspaper). Journals include Forst Journal (Forestry Journal), Journal ueber Schafzucht (Sheep Breeding Journal), Blaetter ueber Landwirtschaft aus Odessa (Agricultural Newspaper from Odessa). I have the honour of including a statistical overview of the Molochnaia Mennonite District for 1 January 1839 and a tabular overview of plantings. I remain with all esteem Yr. Honour’s most humble servant, Johann Cornies. 186. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 11 January 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/6.1 Yr. Honour, State Counsellor, Yr. Honour will be so kind as to forgive me when I say that I cannot carry out two points included in Yr. proposal No. 459, dated 12 December 1

In 1838 the new Ministry of State Domains implemented an agricultural apprenticeship program to train state peasants in modern agricultural practices. Finding and training suitable apprentices became an ongoing nuisance for Cornies from this point forward. Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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1838, in regard to the acceptance of apprentices to learn agriculture. With respect, I would like to explain the situation as follows: 1. I recognize the purpose of giving young people who are learning agriculture basic instruction in reading, writing, and elementary arithmetic, but cannot, despite my best intentions, assume responsibility for such an arrangement. I have no space on either of my estates to provide an educational institution for teachers and apprentices. Nor would I know how to find a teacher equipped to instruct these young people in those subjects who is also a morally upright person, able to serve as an example for the apprentices. The Ohrloff Society School is too far away to have the apprentices taught there and the school is, in any case, meant to provide education for children in the local community. All who apply cannot be accommodated because the school lacks enough space and one teacher alone is unable to provide the necessary instruction. Finally, the Mennonite community generally has a great and continuing need for persons who can understand Russian correctly and are capable of teaching it. 2. In addition to learning the skill of immunizing sheep against sheep pox, the apprentices can also learn how to heal animals of other sicknesses such as cattle plague in horses and sheep as well as tympanitis, broken legs, and similar maladies, but I cannot provide apprentices with an opportunity to learn the basics of veterinary medicine. 3. With respect to the practice of religious customs for Russian and Muslim apprentices, I pledge to insist that each one follow his religion eagerly. Russian apprentices already have the opportunity to do so because all of my servants of Russian religion [Russian Othodox church members], numbering approximately seventy persons on my two estates, must observe fasts properly. On my Iushanle estate, they are given leave when necessary to go to confession and communion at the church in the crown village of Tokmak. On my Tashchenak estate they go to a village twelve verstas away. Though only three Muslims are presently in my service, they too are encouraged to be scrupulous in their choice of foods and in their other religious duties. On religious holidays, they attend the meshet in Akkerman, eight verstas from Iushanle, and in Edinokhta, ten verstas from Tashchenak. I am in total agreement with all other points, and am prepared to accept up to sixteen apprentices for instruction in all branches of practical agriculture, insofar as these are practised on my two estates. Should

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Yr. Honour consider this appropriate after the above explanations, I am prepared to conclude the specific terms in writing. Johann Cornies. 187. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 24 January 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/9. Highly esteemed Mr. Doehring in Sarepta, It was troubling for me to understand from your letter of 22 September that you had not received the bill of lading for the cows and sheep that you had purchased from me. I had sent it by mail a few days after the transport of livestock left, and felt that you would have received it before the cows arrived. It would have been best to have Eydsen bring along the payment for me without requiring you to pay additional charges. Being away from home and other business matters kept me from letting you know about my preference in regard to how I would like to receive my money. This was, however, included on the second bill I sent. If agreeable, please send me this sum via Moscow. I am eager to know how the cows, oxen, and sheep have adapted to your conditions. I know that changes in climate, pasture, water, and care can keep the best qualities of the animals from exhibiting themselves immediately. They will become evident next year, although their outward appearance may well have changed already. Change is not detrimental for the sheep. Given proper care, that is surely not lacking and they must already be in much better shape. Have you followed the rules I prescribed in allowing the rams in with the ewes? Did you obtain seeds for steppe wort through Mr. Steven? He promised to provide you with some. I will send a recipe to cure ringworm and also some grafting shoots as per your order. Since I am always pleased to hear something informative from you, please write again soon and in great detail, as time allows. Our winter has been very changeable. Frost, snow, and rain seem to alternate several times each month and ice is constantly breaking up and gathering in brooks on the steppe. How is everything there and what are you and your dear family doing? And my many dear acquaintances? Please give them heartfelt and sincere greetings from me. We are all still healthy and well, praise God, and commend ourselves to all of you. With this, I remain your willing Johann Cornies.

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188. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 26 January 1839. SAOR 89-1-594/46. Dear Mr. Cornies, I am pleased that you have agreed to the conditions proposed by the Ministry. In regard to provisions for the teaching of reading and writing, I have submitted the matter to the Ministry for consideration. The new State Domains section may not begin operations until June or July and directives are unlikely to be sent before then. Still, it is possible that the Ministry is already dealing with this matter. It is still winter here although the frost is not severe, and some rain has fallen. Winter in the harbour is really quite mild. May you fare well. Your most devoted C. Steven. When you send me the wagon, please include a pud of your good cheese. The last one was absolutely superb. 189. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 26 January 1839. SAOR 89-1-594/45. Dear Mr. Cornies, The Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains has just responded to the submission requesting a reward for Ali Pasha. It is prepared to do so, but the documents regarding his performance are incomplete. A specific statement affirming that he has not appeared before the courts is required. Since the usual procedure in such cases can take quite long, please have Ali Pasha provide such a certificate from the lower courts, or from the Ispravnik, and send it to me as soon as possible. With esteem, your most devoted C. Steven. Received 4 February, answered 21 February 1839 190. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 21 February 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/12v. Yr. Honour, State Counsellor Steven, I am honoured to send the enclosed certificate from the district supervisor about the performance of the Nogai Ali Pasha. I have twice contracted to have the wagon and the cheese transported to you, but this has always been put off by the drivers because

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of unfavourable local weather conditions. The rivers on the steppe have been in an almost uninterrupted state of break-up since the New Year, making communications difficult. Winter here has been exceptional. Frost, snow, and rain seem to alternate three times a week. However, I hope to dispatch the transport as soon as the roads are more passable and the brooks on the steppe can more easily be crossed. At the moment, it is impossible to reach the Doukhobors or Novoaleksandrovka across the Molochnaia by wagon, although it is possible to ride to Novoaleksandrovka on the ferry or to go on foot. I urgently ask you to do me the favour of releasing 500 vine roots to me. I will ask a Mennonite travelling there in late March or early April to pick them up. Last summer the Sarepta Brotherhood requested that I send them several funt of steppe-rue seeds, but I am not familiar with this plant and have no seeds. When Yr. Honour spent time on my estate in Tashchenak, you were so kind as to explain the characteristics of this seed to me in detail, and you also mentioned that it could be obtained in great quantities in the Crimea. I would therefore ask you to kindly send several funt of these seeds to the Sarepta Brotherhood with a short description of their characteristics. Please charge this to my account. I promise to pay the correct amount immediately upon notification. With the appropriate respect and devotion, I have the honour to remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant Johann Cornies. 191. Johann Cornies to Goldschad. 21 February 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/12. Esteemed Mr. Goldschad, I received your valued letter of 12 January while travelling near Poltava on 22 January, but am unable to give you the information you request regarding the purchase of cows for Count Kochubei in this area. I still do not have a surplus of East Frisian cows for sale myself. I introduced them because I consider their quality to be much superior to all other cows, but their propagation is still quite slow. This is usually the case when foreign livestock is given unaccustomed fodder and pasture. It takes much time for livestock to acclimatize itself to an unfamiliar region. The attractive outward stature and large size of our usual local cows, also of East Frisian descent, has declined markedly

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since Mennonites first brought them along in considerable numbers when they immigrated about thirty-five years ago. Many such cows still produce sufficient milk to reflect their descent. They provide considerably more milk over a much longer time than the best Russian cows even though this is not evidenced by their outward stature. Every year, people of high rank buy many of these cows for their abundant milk production and not their appearance. They sell at a high price, from eighty to one hundred and twenty rubles, depending on the quality of the cow. Because such cows are purchased in various villages individually by the head it is not possible to obtain more than one or two from a single owner. Considerable effort and expenditure of time are required to purchase twenty-five head. Should the Count give this matter some thought and decide to purchase the desired number of the ordinary cows described above, please do not suggest my help in promoting this business. I am able to deal with affairs involving long distances only when they are on behalf of my community or when they affect my own business. I will report to you later whether I will be able to sell 500 yearling ewes right after shearing time, but these would be only third-class ewes. First-class ewes are sold no earlier than September, as I believe I informed you earlier. With friendly greetings, I wish you and your family continuing wellbeing and remain, with constant respect and esteem, your friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 192. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 23 February 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/16. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I have been waiting all winter for a shipment of pine seed that was promised me from Chernigov guberniia. I now doubt that it will come and I have no other alternative but to burden you with another request. I politely ask you, if possible, to send me three to four funt of good pine seed, “pinus silvestrus,” by mail at your earliest convenience. I would be greatly obliged. I would also be grateful if you could find two bound sets of agricultural newspapers for 1835 and 1836 for me. I received the dictionary and the oil undamaged, for which I cannot send you sufficient thanks.

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As I report the well-being of my whole family, I add my heartfelt greetings to you and your dear family, and commend myself to you as your honest, loving friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 193. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 28 February 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/18. Highly valued Mr. Doehring, Many thanks for your New Year’s wishes, sent 3 January. I was pleased and gratified to hear that you, your dear family, and all my good acquaintances and friends are well. It gives me further pleasure to hear that the purchase of cows and sheep that I arranged has already given great satisfaction to interested individuals there. May God’s blessings accompany this purchase that, over the years, will assume importance for Sarepta’s inhabitants and become a profitable branch of the economy for the entire community. The lambs conceived during the transport must be considered as less highly bred than the older sheep, since the rams are suitable to improve your already existing sheep-farm. No further damage is to be feared from this, as long as the mixing of breeds does not continue in the future. I am making every effort to send you a good master shepherd, but I have not yet been able to find one. I hereby send you a small packet of grafting shoots in wadding, marked D.D., as well as a list of their varieties. Early cutting and shipping of grafting shoots does no damage and does not make it more difficult for them to take. The main thing is to keep them in sand in your cellar, not too moist, and not too dry, until the little grafting stems are obviously in sap. Winter is very changeable this year, as frost, snow, and rain spell one another off several times a week. The brooks are flowing almost all the time, which makes communications very difficult. Last year was a golden year for the agriculturist and like conditions have continued on into this year. All products are in demand and sell at high prices. Prosperity is increasing markedly with the result that economic activity is increasing throughout the whole region. As I report the good health and well-being of my whole family, I request that you give my greetings to all of my good friends and acquaintances. I commend myself to you and your dear family in friendship, and honestly remain, with love and esteem, your friend and servant, Johann Cornies.

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194. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 6 March 1839. SAOR 89-1-594/36. Dear Mr. Cornies, I received the certificate for Ali Pasha and immediately sent it on to the Ministry. It is now to be hoped that this worthy man will soon receive his reward. The grapevines will be ready at the time specified. I only advise you not to plant them in low-lying areas along the Molochnaia any more, but somewhere that is higher and drier. Regrettably, I have no more seed for the rue plant [Harmelesaamen] in stock. Demands for them are coming in from all sides and I will have a larger stock gathered next autumn. In any case, it is an important plant and a great deal can be gathered around Perekop for the cloth factory on the Molochnaia. We had fourteen days of frost without a break. Today the sky is clouding over and warmer weather is expected. Very many year-old sheep are dying, merinos as well as ordinary ones. What is happening in your area? You would oblige me greatly if you could buy a pair of good wagon horses for me, four to six years old, at 350–400 rubles for the pair, well driven in and not unpredictable. I am not knowledgeable about horses and am always swindled by traders here. The horses could bring me my wagon. I would gladly bear the costs and would return the cash outlay immediately with the greatest thanks. Also, please do not forget to send a cheese whenever there is transport coming this way. May you fare well, with honest esteem, your devoted C. Steven. 195. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 18 March 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/19v. His Honour State Counsellor Fadeev, Two unanswered letters from Yr. Honour lie before me, dated 30 October 1838 and 8 January 1839. For now I am able only to send you the requested information regarding the purchase of gray sheep from the Tarkhankut Peninsula, Crimea. As soon as your valued commission arrived, I wrote to a dependable acquaintance in a region of the Crimea where this type of gray sheep is kept. Manager of Count Vorontsov’s estate for several years, he wrote about the sheep and their purchase.

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Enclosed is an extract from his letter. I am well acquainted with this man, consider him to be honest and dependable, and find that he is very knowledgeable about the particular characteristics of these sheep. I will save for the future detailed reports about conditions here, but should already mention that our winter has been exceptionally variable this year. The weather seems to change from frost and snow to rain three times a week. The soil is well moistened but ice on the steppe streams and rivers breaks up all the time, making communications difficult. I have heard from Sarepta that they are highly pleased with the twentyfive cows, one Dutch bull, sixty Merino ewes, and seven rams that we sent them, all highly bred. Hopeful that some people in their community will decide to introduce and pursue agriculture, I will neglect nothing that might encourage them in this direction. Only through the development of agriculture can Sarepta become a model for that region. I have offered to accept two Kalmyks on my estates and train them as shepherds, but I doubt this will happen. The Minister has asked me to take on sixteen state peasant boys from this guberniia and teach them all branches of agriculture as practised on my estates.2 The terms have been agreed upon and I am already busy with the project. Sarepta, however, is still close to my heart and I think it could become particularly useful to the Kalmyks. Their community is not constituted in a way that would allow for the establishment of a complete agricultural economy, but at least the better breeding of livestock would make the locale blossom and become more productive. It would be to Sarepta’s own long-term advantage to become more closely bound to the soil so that its residents might increasingly regard it as their fatherland. We praise God that all of us are in good health. I have the honour to remain, with unchanging esteem, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, J.C. P.S. I assume that three funt acacia seed sent to you two weeks ago have been received. 196. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 21 March 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/21v. Yr. Honour, State Counsellor Steven, I have received Yr. Honour’s communication of 6 March and am very grateful for instructions about the planting of vines on the Molochnaia.

2

Ibid.

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I sent your wagon and one crate of cheese to you on 9 March. I contracted Ali, a Nogai from Akkerman, to deliver them for twenty-four rubles of which I have paid eight rubles. Upon the satisfactory delivery of the wagon and the cheese, kindly pay him the remaining sixteen rubles. My advances for you are as follows: On three occasions a total of 7 cheeses weighing 2 puds 7 1/2 funt: One chetverik peas: Freight: One iron axled wagon and accessories: Advance for freight: Total:

26.25 [rubles]; 2 2 197 8 235.25 rubles.

After subtracting charges for 500 vines, please give the remaining sum to the Mennonite whom I will send along to pick up the vines. I will not fail to find you a pair of good wagon horses here. A purchase of this type can probably not be concluded advantageously until after seeding time. Agriculturalists here keep their horse prices high before field cultivation in spring, but they are usually lower afterwards. Last year’s lambs are dying of diarrhoea by the thousands and several sheep farms in the region are being totally destroyed. The malady has raged among sheep in the region for two years, and has greatly decreased the number of sheep. On my sheep farms the sheep are completely healthy and have not been affected by the evil generally rampant among other flocks. My experience of sheep breeding over the years has convinced me that this problem occurs where sheep are handled without proper care. The large majority of so-called sheep breeders in this guberniia do not understand the simple skills needed to protect highly bred sheep and keep them healthy. Snow disappeared on 12 March and innumerable swarms of various summer birds appeared that same day. The soil is still too wet to begin ploughing. Today, winter returned with two degrees of frost and a real snowstorm. There are two feet of snow in spots and it is two to three inches deep everywhere. The sky, however, is clearing and the sun is melting the snow. With the appropriate esteem and genuine respect, I have the honour to remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies.

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197. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 5 April 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/26. Yr. Honour, State Counsellor Steven, With this messenger you will receive one chetverik of linseed, several grafting shoots of mulberry trees, and shoots for a giant poplar. I cannot give you a price for the linseed because it was sent to me without a quotation. The bearer will also deliver a swing tree for your wagon as well as a map of the Nogai village of Akkerman.3 It was drawn on site by a pupil at our local Ohrloff Society School. The map is not exceptional, but it shows that drawing is taught in our local rural schools, and that pupils are making progress in acquiring that skill. As the sun came out the snow that had fallen on 21 March started to melt. Toward evening, however, the wind turned to the north, bringing more snow and frost. During the Easter holidays, visiting was done by sled and thawing only set in on 31 March. These ten days swept away large numbers of sheep and the lack of feed has also been felt severely in many places, especially among the Nogais. More than a third of the sheep in this district died this winter, and the sheep still alive will produce little wool. Sheep are emaciated because of their meagre winter feed and their wool has stopped growing. Many days are still cold. Lambing is beginning and the emaciated ewes lack sufficient nourishment to feed their lambs. It can be assumed that more sheep and lambs will be lost. The day before yesterday, the first ploughs went out onto the fields to begin preparing for the spring seeding. Snow is still lying in places and the fields are very wet. In the thirty-four years since we settled here, this is only the second time that fieldwork has begun so late. I humbly request that you give the vines to the messenger delivering this, the Mennonite Jacob Reimer. Also, please give the cash advances for me to Reimer, to be handed on to me. I will dispatch a team of horses to you as soon as I can purchase good ones cheaply. With constant devotion and esteem, I endeavour to be Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies.

3

Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, note 12, and docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610.

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198. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 15 April 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/33. State Counsellor Steven, Ali, the Nogai with whom I sent your wagon, has not yet returned. I find it extremely disagreeable that the wagon had to be repaired immediately upon its arrival. I bought it completely new, never before used. I examined it carefully several times before purchase, and then had it painted. Without noticing the slightest flaw on the shaft or spokes, I turned it over to the Nogai myself and taught him how to tie up the wagon, lubricate it and look after it on the journey. The Nogai was, without doubt, thoughtless and negligent, and damaged the shaft and spokes by treating the wagon too roughly. We have had very warm weather for the last four days. At four this afternoon, the thermometer stood at twenty degrees in the shade. The sap is rising quickly in the trees and one can almost see the grass growing. Everything is springing to life and even the incidence of sheep deaths has declined. Still, the situation, in many places, is serious for young lambs. Often the ewes have no milk for their lambs and many will die. I have just learned that the cattle plague (Rinderpest) has broken out in the eastern part of the Nogai district. This evil could easily spread over the whole district and the poor Nogais may well suffer a great setback. Because of a shortage of fodder, they have already lost almost half their sheep. Working cattle are so thin that seeding and cultivating will only be done poorly. If the weather does not improve the Nogais are likely to have a crop failure. With esteem, your devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 199. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 24 April 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/37. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Your valued communications of 31 March were received, including the accounts for the sale of my wool and for the silk dispatched to you last year for sale on consignment. I would also inform you that, according to these accounts, I have correctly received the sum of 29,483 rubles 58 kopeks, as well as 245 rubles 59 kopeks for the silk. Sixty-one half Imperials for Mr. Peter Schmidt in Steinbach were included. You also forwarded 1385 rubles and 20 frank coins from Mr. Merz in Sarepta. I enclose the receipt for the completion of last year’s business for wool delivered to you for sale on consignment.

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I am again grateful for your effective management of my affairs and for completing these to my advantage. I would ask you to again sell my wool on consignment. I am prepared to be of service to you by providing you an advance for the purchase of the desired quantity of wool in our area. I would be pleased to do what I can to accomplish this cheaply and favourably for you. I have already sent someone out to find sheep flocks where the wool has not yet set. Because of fodder shortages most local sheep flocks have suffered and will yield only a very light shearing of inferior wool. I cannot yet report a definite local exchange rate for the twenty frank coins from Mr. Merz. This currency is not used locally and I must therefore inquire about the exchange rate in Ekaterinoslav. With your kind assistance, I would like to obtain the last two years of the agricultural newspapers you have provided me in the past. They are published by G. Rueder, Halle, with C.A. Schwetschke and Son. When you receive them, please have them bound. Moreover, if you can arrange transportation, I would also ask you to purchase a further seventy-five copies of the three books you sent as samples: twenty-five Church histories; twenty-five biblical nature stories; twenty-five biblical geographies. I have yet to decide how to manage the purchase of sheep that you request. There is a variety of sheep here called Zigay or Wallachian, with coarse, hairlike wool almost a quarter arshin long. There are also poorly improved individual sheep among some flocks of Spanish sheep that have coarse wool, also known locally as Zigay wool. The sheep themselves are not ever called Zigay but coarsely improved Spanish sheep. It would be difficult to purchase several hundred of them because there are only a few in any one flock and they would need to be collected from various flocks as individual sheep. Wallachian sheep cannot be found in considerable numbers here, although more of them could perhaps be found than Zigay sheep. Two years ago, I bought several hundred head on consignment for a certain Mr. Lushchin from St. Petersburg, and had to pay fifteen rubles per head. Rumours have it that because many sheep of this variety were destroyed last winter they would not be any cheaper now. With sincere sympathies, I would ask you to assist the Wirth ladies with a gift of 200 rubles and to put it on my account. My wife has been painfully ill for several weeks with little improvement. It was brought on by a heavy cold. Meanwhile, we hope that she will soon, with God’s help, be well again.

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With hearty greetings, I remain, as always, your honest Johann Cornies. 200. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 24 April 1839. SAOR 89-1-420/16. I am very sorry that I was not home when your messenger picked up the vines. I must remain in debt to you for the money on my account until I find another opportunity to send it, or should I mail it to you? Today, the paper you wrote will be sent on to the Ministry. [The Ministry] will probably take direct responsibility for the administration of the peasants when the edict is to take effect on 1 May. The Ministry will surely agree to something so well reasoned and not insist that you teach all the boys at the same time. The program can naturally be accomplished only insofar as it is done on your estates. The Nogai Ali is surely not to blame for the repairs needed for the wagon. For some time, people here have complained that wagons are not being built as solidly as in the past. Although there were problems immediately at the first harnessing, the iron work seems to be fine. This is really the important thing. I continue to be in your debt for ordering the wagon. The map of the Nogai village Akkerman is well done.4 With your permission I would like to send it on to the Ministry in Petersburg where I know it will be well received. Our spring is also very late. We have a few warm days, and then it is cool again with strong east winds. It was only two-and-a-half degrees last night, but without frost, as I had feared. Sheep deaths on the steppes have decreased and lambing is going well. The cold and the wind is not good for the grain. Does the Tatar Kisil wheat grown in your area require only a fraction of the seed when compared to the usual wheat? It is popular on our steppe. I have seeded a chetvert of [so-called] Nakte Gerste [literally, “naked barley”]. Will it flourish? It seems to be at least twice as nutritious as the usual barley. Although there is no great rush, I would be in your debt if you could purchase the horses for me. Still, I hope it will be soon enough to permit me to make some of my trips with the horses this year. Since I must go

4

Ibid.

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to Bakhmut and then to Saratov, my route may well again lead me to you. May you fare well, your devoted, C. Steven. 201. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 27 April 1839. SAOR 89-1-420/20. Dear Mr. Cornies, Doukhobor horses have been recommended to me. Can you buy some? An acquaintance bought a pair of very nice horses for 400 rubles. They are supposed to be stronger and better able to withstand hot weather than German horses, but if no Doukhobor horses are available, I will be content with the latter. Please select good, strong ones. It is cool here, with cold nights. There has been frost, but not directly in our vicinity. With real respect, your devoted, C. Steven. 202. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 30 April 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/30. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I have received four funt of pine seed, in good condition. I would thank you for kindly getting it for me so quickly. The sheep in our region are in a very sorry state, dying by the thousands in the Tavrida, Ekaterinoslav, and Kherson guberniias. Several sheep farms will go under. Many sheep have already lost their wool and the total produced will be small. Thank God that my sheep have not fallen victim to these evils and that my losses have been no greater than usual. My wool shear promises to be as good as in the past. With a heartfelt greeting, I remain your servant Johann Cornies. 203. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 2 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/49v. Dear Brother Heinrich, My shepherd Prokop would like to transfer his tax obligations from Ekaterinoslav guberniia, but must first obtain a release from the village

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community where he is presently registered. Since the procedure will almost certainly involve problems and expense, I have offered Prokop as much money as he may need to arrange the matter. The total expenses cannot be determined in advance and it would be unwise to send a considerable sum along with him, since he is not accustomed to handling money. I therefore turn to you, dear brother, with a request that you advance Prokop as much money as he needs. It seems that he is eligible for military service. I therefore assume that his costs might be 1000 rubles, or more. I have sent along a man capable of resolving this matter as his advocate. Therefore, please advance Prokop a thousand rubles in smaller or larger sums, as necessary. I will repay everything with thanks as soon as I hear from you. I have given Prokop a letter addressed to Mr. Slepushkin, head of the Bureau of State Domains. Please keep it in a safe place until he has obtained permission to transfer his obligation from the village community and is ready to appear at the Domains Bureau to complete the matter. Prokop should give Slepushkin the letter personally at his home and offer him a helping hand where needed. Johann Cornies. 204. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 2 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/40. Yr. Honour Mr. Steven, I have purchased two horses for you and hope you will be pleased with them. They are young, one three and the other four years old, suitable for every type of harness, healthy and without defects, and priced for 379 rubles, 80 kopeks. I tried to find horses at a lower price, but could not find any that combined good qualities with stature. In particular, I was looking for young horses that should retain their stature as they age and readily adapt themselves to the uses to which they will be put. I am sending you both horses with the Nogais, Mambet Suzhundukov and Bilal Amorgaseiev from Burkkut, who are leaving today, 2 May. I hired them for twenty rubles. I have sent along oats for two horses for seven days. Please reimburse the Nogais for expenses incurred en route, plus sixteen rubles when you receive the horses in good order. I gave them an advance of four rubles when they left.

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As I return my most devoted thanks for the kind release of the vines and for the gift, I remain, with constant esteem and devotion, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 205. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 3 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/41. Yr. Honour, State Counsellor Steven, Yesterday, I dispatched two horses to you in the hope that they will meet your expectations. The Doukhobor horses are of a stronger, heavier and larger build, but often have bad habits, especially the young horses that have been insufficiently or cruelly broken. The older ones are seldom without faults. Yet people who have acquired one of their good horses are unwilling to sell them or demand a highly inflated price. Since the Doukhobors switched to sheep breeding, horse breeding has been much in decline. I am convinced that when the horses purchased for you have been under your good care and handling for a year, their quality will meet your hopes. Our orchards are in full blossom. We have had no night frosts since the snow melted. Over the last three days, heavy rains have revived the seeded fields. This is especially fortunate for the poor Nogais. With complete respect, I remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 206. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 7 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/43. Dear Brother Heinrich, Please encourage Prokop’s relatives in Deevka to obtain his pass as quickly as possible, give it to you, and send it on to me at the nearest post office. To ensure that it is not lost, note on the envelope that it contains a pass. Please enclose a bill for the money you gave his relatives for the pass, poll taxes, etc. and for postage. I can then deduct the sum from Prokop’s salary and return it to you at the first opportunity. His pass expires on 25 May. I would be greatly appreciative if the new pass could arrive by that date. My wife’s health is improving slowly and she is able to leave her sickbed at times. Your daughter Agnes gives us much joy. Cheerful and quick, she chatters and works all day long. Teacher Johann Neufeld

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died several days ago and will be buried tomorrow. When convenient, please remind Mr. Hahn to repay the 5000 rubles he borrowed and the applicable interest.5 Please let me know the price at which twenty frank coins are generally exchanged in Ekaterinoslav. What are the circumstances of the H. Walther & Company business in Odessa? Do write to me sometime, even if it is only a few lines. Your brother, who loves you, Johann Cornies. 207. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 7 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/44. In response to your important notification of 27 January 1839, I report that all things mentioned were received in good order, by mail as well as from Kharkov. A purchase of Nogai wool cannot be contemplated since very little is likely to be available. In their misery, the surviving Nogai sheep have almost totally lost their wool. The quantity of wool will be small and its quality bad and I cannot recommend its purchase. In Tokmak, Spanish wool from dead sheep is sold at twelve to fourteen rubles per pud. Each year a large number of Russian small-traders from various guberniias spend the winter in Tokmak, buying up all the sheepskins in the region. They either dispatch them for sale to Kharkov or have the wool shorn from the hides for sale later. Several thousand puds of such wool must have been available this year since peddlers with sheep leather could be seen travelling along most roads around Tokmak. No Germans are involved in this trade. It is difficult and dirty work and requires a great deal of knowledge to judge the quantity of wool on such a variety of pelts. With friendly greetings, I remain as always, your faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies. Spring is exceptionally promising. Our orchards are thick with beautiful blossoms, grain is growing well, and the grass is luxuriant. Everything recovers and again comes to life and we hope for an abundant harvest.

5 Regarding this loan, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 15, and docs. 14, 23, 66, 70, 71, 104, 105, 132, 133, 206, 241. This letter refers to a debt of 5000 rubles, while the earlier letters refer to 2500 rubles; nothing in the correspondence explains the increase.

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208. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 9 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-420/11. Dear Mr. Cornies, Yesterday your Nogais brought the horses purchased for me. They are really beautiful and I send you many thanks for your kind efforts. I paid the two Nogais the money they were owed. I now owe you a great deal, but you have not told me how to forward this money. If there is no great hurry, I can bring it along personally when, as I told you in my last letter, I will be travelling to Lugan through Molochnaia and Orekhov. I have not yet decided when I will leave, but it will probably be by 10 June at the latest. Drought continues here. It rained a bit in the last few days, but not enough, at least not everywhere. Repeating my best thanks to you, I remain with great respect your devoted, C. Steven. I cannot leave until I receive a decision from the Ministry about the people to be sent to you. 10 May [1839]. The Nogais are only leaving today. I am reopening this letter to ask whether there is a road straight to Lugan. What kind of villages does this road pass through and what are the distances? I want to visit a model estate in that vicinity. Germans from the Molochnaia must often go there. I would like to make the trip using my own horses. The mail just brought me your letter of 3 May. I repeat my thanks for your efforts. 209. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 12 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-420/15. Dear Mr. Cornies, In yesterday’s mail I got your interesting documents and statistics on developments in the Mennonite settlement on the Molochnaia River. I am pleased to see how much the well-being of the settlement in which you have played such a large role is improving. Please let me know if you have sent this report directly to the august Ministry of State Domains as well, or whether you would like me to. This I would do with great pleasure. With much respect, your devoted, C. Steven.

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210. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 22 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/45. Yr. Honour, State Counsellor, When I sent you the report and other documents relating to the endeavours and progress of the Molochnaia Mennonites, it was my intention that you might, if you found them useful, kindly pass them on to the august Ministry of State Domains. The Nogais who brought you the horses have returned and it pleases me to know that you are happy with the purchase. I have been living at Tashchenak for eight days now, busy with sheep shearing. Rainy weather causes many delays. I cannot dry the wool on the sheep, which further delays the shearing. I still do not know when I will be finished here. As for Lugan, I have never travelled the road from here to there. When I get back to the villages, I will ask people who know the route well and report to you. With esteem, Johann Cornies. 211. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 27 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/46.6 Yr. Honour, State Counsellor, I received Yr. honoured communication No. 216, dated 24 April on 29 April that kindly informed me that you had sent the Ministry the terms I signed for accepting several apprentices. I was about to leave home on business, and read it hastily, without noticing that another letter to me was enclosed. I ask for your kind pardon. I only found the enclosure when I searched through your esteemed correspondence today. I am honoured to reply immediately. You can pay me for the horses, etc. whenever you find a suitable opportunity to do so or when you travel through our settlements. That would give me great pleasure. There would be costs in doing so by mail, and of course there is no hurry. The wagon was certainly damaged by the Nogai’s misuse. Wagons here are still built solidly by local wagon builders. Rivals, inferior tradesmen, can be found among the other settlers in the area and among

6

Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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neighbouring Russians. They build wagons and sell them as though they were Mennonite ones. Such wagons are not built of durable wood and are poorly crafted. It is plausible that the double-tree was broken [by the Nogai], because the wagon had no double-tree when I bought it and I added one from one of my light wagons, made by my carpenter. Yes, please send the map of the Nogai village of Akkerman to the Ministry, if you think it has sufficent value. We have had a lot of rain but the grain is not growing well. Where fields have not been well cultivated, weeds crowd out the grain. Grass is lush and we will cut hay even from the highest steppes. Wool prices are at their normal level, from twenty-seven to twenty-eight rubles per pud for washed wool, and from seventeen to nineteen rubles for unwashed wool. Many buyers have turned up this year. I have still not found anyone who has driven along the straight road to Lugan, but I will continue to make inquiries. With constant devotion and the appropriate esteem, I have the honour to be Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 212. Mrs. David Voth to Johann Cornies. 27 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-420/13. Highly valued Mr. Johann Cornies, I have an urgent request. My husband is not at home, but has gone to Oberen for wood and may not return before next Sunday. Many chumaks are delivering wood and I have to pay their cartage charges. By now, I don’t know which way to turn. I am therefore forced to seek counsel from you. Would you lend me 600 rubles? My husband will come to see you as soon as possible with the greatest thanks. I remain, with real love and continued thoughts of you, Mrs. David Voth. 213. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 27 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/48. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Almost 700 puds of good wool have already been bought on your account and the remainder will be purchased within the next few days. Six or seven wool buyers have arrived from Moscow and Odessa. Wool is rising in price, fetching more than thirty rubles a pud in places. Wool on your account was bought at twenty-seven to twenty-eight rubles.

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Kindly send me ten dozen sheep shears via Kharkov, but not the small ones. No one here will buy them anymore. The shears should, if possible, be somewhat larger than the biggest you sent me last year. They could most easily be sold. Your friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 214. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 31 May 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/48v. His Honour, Mr. Keppen, I am honoured to report that, at your esteemed request, we started to open several burial mounds in this district eight days ago. The first was in Neukirch village. I expect to open another two or three mounds on the left [east] bank of the Iushanle before harvest time. Once the work is done, I will report the results.7 It was impossible to start this work earlier. Spring was late this year and cultivation and summer seeding took the time of everyone capable of work. Haying is about to start. Daily wages have risen to two rubles with board, or 250 kopeks without. Grass is growing astonishingly well and the grain fields promise another rich harvest. Weeds, however, are gaining the upper hand, especially on poorly cultivated fields. We have finished wool shearing in this region, but the yields were light. The hard winter brought suffering to our flocks and thousands of sheep died. Wool sold for twenty-seven to twenty-eight rubles per pud, washed, and seventeen to nineteen rubles, unwashed. Fat wethers are not in demand. The price of wheat continues to be twelve to fifteen rubles per chetvert. Milk cows are in great demand, fetching eighty to a hundred and twenty rubles a piece. My own wool and wool from the community sheep farm will be shipped to Moscow to be sold on consignment while our villagers will haul their wool to the market in Romen. My last year’s wool production was sold in Moscow in January for sixty rubles per pud. Weather conditions are very good with rains almost twice a week. Trees blossomed well this year and we hope for a bountiful harvest of fruit. The weather has also been favourable for our forest-tree plantations. I have heard, however, that the Alesk Uezd has had little rain and its grain is said to be growing poorly and its grass sparse. Johann Cornies. 7

Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21.

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215. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 7 June 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/50v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, On 5 June, I again sent my wool to you, specifically seventy-eight balls on twenty-six carts. Please accept it for sale on consignment as you have in previous years. Enclosed please find the original of the contract I concluded with the carters. According to its terms, once they have delivered the wool to you they are to receive payment of 1326 rubles, 36 kopeks in half Imperials, estimated at twenty-two rubles each. Please pay them this sum, noting it on my account. According to the enclosed bill of lading, the carters loaded a total of 756 puds, 38 1/2 funt, net., in linen: Electa, seven balls; first variety, thirty-two; second variety, twenty-six; third variety, thirteen, all marked JC (78 in total). Since I have now firmly established my sheep flocks in two locations, the wool of each will constitute a separate unit. I need to explain this to you even though the two flocks are equal in the quality of their wool and its cleanliness, although this may not be the case every year. Location, water, and weather all affect the washing, and this can differ greatly over a distance of forty verstas and affect the wool more or less favourably. I have therefore had the sacks with wool from the Tashchenak estate marked with “T,” and will stick to this practice in future. The wool from Iushanle still has no special mark, as in the past. However, any sacks in the shipment marked “#” contain lambswool and those with “X” are wool from wethers. As a rule, lambswool always turns out to be finer and softer and also cleaner in washing, while wool from wethers is the exact opposite, and is also longer and more substantial. In my opinion, it is useful to give [the wool from my two estates] specific markings. This might help you to make appropriate decisions in whatever circumstances you may find yourself in dealing with buyers. The wool from wethers at Iushanle has no special markings. On the whole, the washing this year turned out well and the wool is very clean, which is also the case of wool from other local sheepfarms. Last year was wet and the sheep stayed white and dust-free right into the winter. The wool bought on your account also is clean and should be profitable. Everyone complains about a very light shearing, many insisting that the region will deliver only half the quantity of the wool it produced previously. I can say nothing definite in this regard, but I do know that

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several sheep farms produced considerably less wool this year than they have in the past. As for my shipment of this year’s wool, I leave this to you, confident that you will conduct its sale according to your best insight. I remain, with honest regard, your friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 216. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 26 June 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/55.8 Mr. Keppen, In humbly submitting to Yr. Honour the results of your instruction to open three mounds and one burial vault, I have the honour to inform you that I intend to open several additional mounds and investigate the small hills near the town of Orekhov mentioned in your report to the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Although I have previously been inexperienced in the opening of mounds, I can now, with practice, better understand the methods and manner in which to proceed. This will help me to realize the real purposes of these investigations. All of the excavations included in the enclosed descriptions were completed by eight men over a period of seven days. I covered their costs. The 200 rubles the Academy designated for this purpose remains in my possession. I will use it to fund further endeavours of this kind and then give you an accounting of my expenses. According to Nogai sagas, there are said to be two subterranean vaults in the Nogai District that seem to have been partly broken into and destroyed by the Nogais. Please let me know if you would like me to examine them closely. With the appropriate esteem, etc., Johann Cornies. 217. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 26 June 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/56. Keppen. Most Honourable Sir, Over the past two or three years, the poor Nogais have suffered great damage as a result of the Raende [bloat] malady among their sheep. Even though several Nogais successfully use the remedy I had prescribed to cure the sheep, which returned them completely to health, these same

8

Ibid.

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sheep were again infected by the sheep of neighbours. Prejudice, laziness, or stinginess had prevented the neighbours from curing their own sheep. As a result, many Nogais have lost their passion for Spanish sheep raising. Many Nogais have appealed to me requesting advice, and ask me to devise ways of forcing the neglectful and lazy Nogai owners to cure their sheep of this bloat. Once cured, all sheep could then be kept in a healthy state. Recently they gave me a written petition which I submit in the original. I would accordingly ask that you graciously make representations on this subject to the appropriate places, recommending that a directive might be issued requiring that all Spanish sheep, without exception, be cured of the bloat. Prepared to do my part, I would provide the Nogais with proven methods that, if followed correctly, would doubtlessly cure the sheep completely within a month’s time. These methods can return even the most bloated sheep to a state of health and do not entail costs of more than thirty to thirty-five kopeks per head. Early experiences of the new, humane peasant administration are already awakening a better understanding of agriculture among the Nogais. When constructively inclined, Nogais will improve and extend their own economies and raise themselves to a more elevated level in all branches of culture. The Nogais are particularly talented to achieve this goal. With the appropriate esteem, Yr. Honour’s humble Johann Cornies. Ohrloff, 26 June 1839. 218. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 26 June 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/58. Fadeev. Yr. Honour, Much time has passed since I last wrote and I fear that my long silence may well have aroused your displeasure. Still, you are familiar with my business affairs and know the strength of my attachment to you. Since you were transferred out of the Guardianship Committee, its affairs have only limped along. The General [Inzov] has outlived his usefulness and members of the Guardianship Committee hope for better times while forgetting the needs of the present. Meanwhile, the business of the Society increases from day to day and its papers have accumulated to the extent that I have had to construct a special building on my yard to store them in an orderly fashion. Without advice and the support of superiors, the Society and District Office must cut their way through the underbrush to conquer new territory

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and ensure that this good cause does not stagnate. Thanks to you, our unforgettable benefactor, wise arrangements were made earlier that constitute the foundations for the enduring welfare of many thousands of my fellow Mennonites. From the time of the Society’s establishment, its members have faithfully and honourably followed the true sense of the words of the Instruction and the directives that accompany it. Mainly concerned with the well-being of their brothers, they have neglected their own business interests to foster morality, enterprise, and a love of order within their community. These efforts have naturally led to prosperity. Indeed, the proceeds of economic life have increased markedly from month to month. Expanding field cultivation has become the principal foundation of the Molochnaia Mennonite community’s prosperity. Targeted cultivation and fertilization have significantly increased production. Traffic between Berdiansk and our villages has become much more active and over the past year the community has delivered 40–45,000 chetvert of wheat to Berdiansk, at a value of almost 600,000 rubles. The progressive improvement in field cultivation, in turn, has stimulated the invention and production of better agricultural implements and machines. For example, sixty-seven threshing machines now operate in this district, two experimental horse-driven chaff cutters were built last winter, and a cultivator with three shares, pulled by four horses, has been developed that effectively ploughs more land in a day than two ordinary ploughs. Although the planting of potatoes cannot be much expanded without more workers, last year saw a harvest of more than 20,000 chetvert. Flax cultivation has grown rapidly with the result that our requirement for flax was produced locally last year. Of inestimable benefit for the community, this development protects our people from idleness and its accompanying evils. We have, moreover, built thirty six earthen dams that spread their blessings widely, flooding over 1400 desiatinas of hay meadows. These meadows produce double the hay that they did before, and reduce our shortages of fodder significantly. Orchards and forest-tree-plantations are moving ahead. Foresttree plantations in particular thrive and grow with those of Altonau, Muensterberg, Blumstein, Lindenau, Schoenau, Muntau, Petershagen, Ladekop, Ohrloff, and Blumenort distinguishing themselves as the most advanced. The thick foliage of tall trees, many more than six arshins high, adds a touch of grace and beauty to our surroundings. Sericulture has also made some progress, with the possibility of more than a pud of silk being produced this year.

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As a growing demand has raised the price of butter, the breeding of horned cattle has come to occupy the attention of an increasing number of villagers. Over the last few years, sheep breeding, however, has been doing only moderately well as wool prices have declined and the death of many sheep has struck this branch of our agricultural economy a heavy blow. As a result, the previous exaggerated interest in sheep breeding has waned. Employment in field cultivation, on the other hand, now ties everyone down to his house and his soil. As the many easy days of sheep breeding are significantly reduced we embrace a way of life in which man must literally eat his bread by the sweat of his brow. Wealth is increasing. New and better houses and agricultural sidebuildings are being built throughout most of our villages. New houses are now generally constructed of fired brick. The new village of Landskrone will be established this year, next to Friedensdorf, on the Begemchokrak, and will consist of many young families. It was planned by the District Office and the [Agricultural] Society according to a completely new concept. Nineteen families have pledged to build houses of fired brick on stone foundations, according to a predetermined style. The four brickworks now in existence cannot deliver the bricks required fast enough and more brickworks will have to be built. Lime, previously obtained from Bielgorod, is now produced in Ohrloff from stones on Doukhobor land. A master craftsman has been brought in to produce Dutch roof tiles and is now carrying out tests. I hope to roof my own buildings in Ohrloff with them this year. The implement that I had built last year to destroy feather grass has not proven itself. It was supposed to cut this grass, not uproot it. However, machine maker Dyck has now made a sketch of a different machine for this purpose that may well work. Mr. Pelekh still lives in Prishib. District Chairman Regier is in good health. He does not, however, receive enough encouragement or support from the authorities, even though he requested such help in Odessa in spring. I think he is becoming more listless than before, despite his best intentions. Perhaps you might send him a few lines of encouragement that would help him to maintain his resoluteness. Might you perhaps also write to Mr. Evdokimenko9 who promised Regier his support? Otherwise, I doubt that the needed undertakings here will be started and take root. 9

Evdokimenko was Deputy Director of the Guardianship Committee.

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If it is to remain useful, the Society itself needs assurances of a better and firmer existence. If this does not happen, its operations cannot continue. Should it, however, receive the active support that it deserves, it will continue to operate on the foundation that you, Yr. Honour, have laid. In that case, all branches of agriculture in our villages will develop as models for southern Russia. These will deserve to be copied and, as such, become useful to millions of our inhabitants. I know that the well-being of the state and of the Mennonite community lies close to your heart. You have already sacrificed the greater part of your very useful life to its progress. I therefore live in the firm hope that, even if you must go through higher authorities, you will try to develop a firmer, more powerful role for the Society, whose good will is not lacking. Only one person is needed to provide the leadership under which it can operate and from whom it can receive support, encouragement, and advice, but this must be a high-ranking person with a deep insight into the situation. Martens is well and still follows a strict regimen. However, it is to be regretted that he has become so involved in his own business affairs that he forgets his fellow man. If one wants to be a citizen of this world and a member of a larger community, one cannot disregard the wellbeing of one’s neighbour any more than of one’s own. Without this, true joy and happiness are not possible. My own establishment is still progressing as before. It does not take giant steps forward, nor do I desire that it should. I am trying to gain only enduring and permanent advances that can usually only be made at the pace of a snail. Distance and time will never erase from my heart and those of my brethren, the thankful memories we have of your fatherly guardianship to promote the fortune of our local Molochnaia Mennonite brotherhood. Every advance in our future well-being will only raise the high esteem and respect with which I, united with all of my righteous brethren, remain Yr. Honour’s thankful, humble servant, Johann Cornies. 219. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 4 July 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/63. Most esteemed Mr. Blueher, On 27 June, Mr. Neufeld sent you the Spanish wool purchased here on your account, loaded on twenty-seven carts with a total weight of 804 puds 11 1/4 funt net. The contract Neufeld concluded with the

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carters is enclosed according to which the remainder of 1400 rubles, at 22 rubles per half Imperial, should be paid to them in Moscow upon delivery of the wool in good order. According to the enclosed bill of lading, you will receive washed wool packed in ninety-five balls as follows: twenty-three of first variety; fifty-eight of second variety; and fourteen of third variety. All ninetyfive balls are marked A.G.S. My outlay for money advanced was 24,855 rubles, 39 kopeks, as indicated on the enclosed accounts. I advanced this in money exchanged at twenty-one rubles per half Imperial. I request that you send it to me in exactly the same currency. The transaction dragged on endlessly as the purchase of the last hundred puds of wool was affected by buyers who purchased quantities of wool at thirty-five, thirty-six, and even fortyone rubles. This last price was paid by Chetverikov from Moscow to the [German] colonists’ community sheep farm. That wool is considered here to be of only very average quality. In the shipment of wool purchased for you, some of it is marked # and comes from the same source as earlier shipments. Wool from a new source is marked with X. Please have the wool from this sheep farm judged to see whether you could offer two to three rubles more for it if, in future, similar purchases were to be made for you. All of the wool is generally cleaner this year than in the past and I hope that its cleanliness and substance will enable you to make the desired favourable sales. Mr. Neufeld will notify you from Romen about the market prices for wool there. Much less is going to Romen from this region, only a little more than half of last year’s shipments. I received your valued communication of 9 July [sic] in good order. My wife’s health is now substantially better and her strength is increasing. She is already able to carry out her household duties as she was accustomed to do in the past. Johann is at Tashchenak and Agnes in Iushanle. God be praised that both are healthy and cherish the best memories of your dear, friendly reception. Weather conditions are fruitful in this region, with a surplus of grass for hay, while field crops are growing well. Interested as I am, I wish you the Lord’s blessing for your business this year as well. As in the past, I would be pleased if you and your dear family were to remain healthy and contented. I send many heartfelt greetings to you and your dear family, and with constant honesty, I endeavour to remain your true friend and servant, Johann Cornies.

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220. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 14 July 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/65. Dear Brother Cornies in Ekaterinoslav, Many thanks for your efforts on behalf of the shepherd Prokop. Unfortunately, we have not yet received anything from Mr. Slepushkin that would permit us to proceed on Prokop’s behalf. I would therefore ask you to again apply politely to Mr. Slepushkin, in my name, that he kindly inform me how Prokop might proceed in changing his registration in a manner that would enable him to remain here. If possible, I would also like to receive a form that shows us how best to compose a petition to the ministry, according to law. Under the new administrative arrangements, we are still not familiar with procedures in this matter. We need to be able to compose petitions in a manner that makes it possible for us to achieve their purpose. Anticipating your help in carrying out these requests, etc., Johann Cornies. 221. Peter Keppen to Johann Cornies. 20 July 1839. SAOR 89-1-594/2. I received your honoured communication of 26 June after the presentation made to the Minister of State Domains about the plague rampant among Nogai sheep had already been completed. The information for this presentation was taken from your report regarding conditions in the Mennonite villages during the past year. Now a directive is being prepared in the Ministry of State Domains that entails measures against the plague that would be instituted with your cooperation. Please provide your best help as you are able. Also, accept our warmest thanks for your involvement in this problem. I prepared an abstract of your report for the Minister that he was very pleased with. In response to various points that you made, he declared that you would receive recognition for your activities. Tell me honestly if such a response would offend your practices.10 When you write again, tell me whether your efforts in Akkuia have had positive results, and how many Nogais are already building houses for themselves. 10 Cornies replied to this document, thanking Keppen but asking that he receive no formal recognition. See Vol. II, doc. 236.

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Many thanks for the information about the excavations you have undertaken.11 I will report about these matters when the academic holidays have ended. Should other undisturbed subterranean vaults be discovered on Nogai lands, it would probably be worth the effort to open them. It is likely that vaults already broken into and completely disturbed are hardly worth the bother. However, it would be useful to know where they are located. Any skulls found in these vaults, or at least a few of them, should probably be sent to the Academy. With honest devotion, I have the honour to be your faithful servant, Keppen. At your convenience, kindly commend me to Mr. Regier, and also to your neighbour, chairman of the [German] colonist district. Received 11 September, answered 18 September 1839. 222. Von Bradke to Johann Cornies. 24 July 1839. SAOR 89-1-589/3.12 No. 1748. Ministry of State Domains, Third Department, Second Section, First Desk. July 24, 1839. Mr. Johann Cornies, Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, The Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains has received, with thanks, your communication about conditions in the Mennonite settlements in Tavrida guberniia in 1838, sent in by the General Inspector for Sericulture, State Counsellor Steven. The interesting contents were reported to the Minister. His Highness has commissioned the Third Department to return his thanks for this communication and to request that you send similar communications to the Department in future, accompanied by remarks about any conditions that require special attention. This time, the Department returns its special thanks for your remarks about the sickness prevailing among the Nogai sheep and has already undertaken the necessary measures [to combat it]. Accompanying your information about conditions in the Mennonite settlements, the sketch of the Nogai village Akkerman was also

11 Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21. 12 Ibid.

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submitted to His Honour, the Minister.13 The Department sends you its thanks for this as well. Director of the Department von Bradke; Section Head P. Keppen. Received 11 August 1839. 223. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 26 July 1839. SAOR 89-1-541/50. My dear Cornies, I read your letter of 26 June several times with great attention and pleasure. Put out of mind any thoughts that an occasional long wait for your letters could irritate me. I know you too well to imagine that you have forgotten me. Better to write infrequently but with such detail, faithfulness, and affection, than frequently with empty compliments and boasts, as is so often done. Considering all present circumstances, it must seem to you as though business matters in the Guardianship Committee are working at crosspurposes. Such instances must be expected from time to time in an empire as large as Russia, but they will not last long. Simply have patience and perseverance. Your endeavours produce such useful and remarkable results, that the support you need cannot remain absent for long. The crisis in colonial administration should also be resolved soon. Your detailed description of the Molochnaia Mennonite District’s economic progress and advancing prosperity fill me with pleasure. Mr. Steven spent several days with me, confirming and strengthening my own conviction that your advice and example has contributed so much. I have sent a forceful exhortation to good Regier. As for Mr. Evdokimenko, a communication to him would not lead anywhere, particularly now when all these gentlemen are waiting for the Committee’s destruction at any moment. You must simply have patience. Matters will certainly take a different turn. In the meantime, continue to do your part. If it is God’s will, I intend to visit you next spring. The conditions on my small estate near Odessa absolutely require an inspection from me and my road will take me through the Molochnaia settlements. My heartfelt greetings to your household, as well as to good Martens. May you stay well and be assured that I will always remain your most sincere friend, A. Fadeev. 13 Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, note 12, and docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610.

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224. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 29 July 1839. SAOR 889-1-521/65v. His Honour, State Counsellor Keppen, from the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains Since there has been no rain for the last three weeks and the heat, with a hot wind, was so great and intense for two weeks, our harvest will not be as good as we had hoped for a month ago. Everything green on the steppes has been scorched. Even in the shade, the thermometer reads twenty-eight to thirty-one degrees. Late seeded grain is ripe but the heat sealed the ears tightly without kernels having formed, or with only very small ones. Potatoes had set well, but they are wilting and will be small. Our hay crop, on the other hand, was more than abundant and yielded a two-year supply. This year’s grain harvest still does not look too bad and there is the possibility that, in this district, we could obtain a considerable surplus to be sold, especially of wheat. In contrast, the harvest will be much worse in Alesk Uezd, and in Ekaterinoslav guberniia, especially in the northern part where the hay and grain harvest could fail completely. My brother, who travelled through that part of Ekaterinoslav Guberniia about five weeks ago, noticed that the rye contained so much ergot that, when seen at a distance, the ears on the rye fields were as black as though infested by black bugs. Even more astonishing, however, was the fact that, before my brother gave them an explanation, several estate owners did not know about ergot’s harmful effect in bread. For this reason he insisted that it is my special duty to inform you, Yr. Honour, on this matter, so that the government can send out general directives in time to alert people to the fact that ergot is harmful to humans and produces extremely evil results for one’s health. To prevent illness and death, no bread or other dishes should be prepared from it. Cattle plague is raging among the horned cattle of our local region with astonishing force. It has not yet broken out in our settlements, but has occurred in the cities Berdiansk and Nogaisk and in the villages Asberde, Timosheka, Mikhailovka, and Tokmak. This terrible evil can, in an extraordinarily short period of time, carry off an immeasurable part of the state’s wealth. So many investigations, experiments, and remedies of this evil have accumulated, but not one seems to have had the desired results. This motivates me to include a copy from the Land

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und Hauswirth [Land and Proprietor] for 1829. I relied on these rules in 1833, when cattle plague left almost no place in our local guberniia unravaged. It broke out in my herd of 163 head as well. By sacrificing eighteen head and carefully observing and following these rules, I banished cattle plague from my stock of cattle. If this detailed description of measures to prevent the spread of cattle plague and to ensure its eradication is to be generally known, it must be publicized for the general good. When my own cattle began to fall to the cattle plague at that time, my experience convinced me that the spread of the cattle plague could be hindered and completely eradicated by following these rules to the letter. Johann Cornies. 225. Johann Regier to Johann Cornies. 4 August 1839. SAOR 89-1-587/19.14 Mr. Johann Cornies in Ohrloff. Treasured friend, You undoubtedly know that Johann Klassen’s cloth factory burned down on 1 August. Quite a lot of cloth was rescued from the fire, some of it partially finished and some completely. A further large quantity of cloth had also been stored in the warehouse. I have meanwhile heard that considerable quantities of cloth have simply disappeared in a variety of ways. This may well be happening even now. Creditors will, as a result, suffer a sizeable loss as will those who delivered wool to the factory for cloth-making. In keeping with the contents of the enclosed letter from the manufacturer Klassen, please let me know as soon as possible if you find it appropriate that we hold a joint discussion. Where should we meet, and when, and who, by name, should be ordered to attend? I await your answer and am, as usual, your true friend, Johann Regier. Halbstadt, 4 August 1839 N.B. On 2 August, Klassen was explicitly told that no cloth was to be released, whether to people who wanted to buy cloth for cash or to creditors, until after a decision had been reached in this matter. J.

14 This is the first report of the fire that destroyed the Klassen mill in Halbstadt. Klassen, already deeply in debt, turned to Cornies for help. With the support of Cornies and other community members, the mill was rebuilt in 1842. On the Klassen mill, see Dmytro Myeshkov, Die Schwarzmeerdeutschen und ihre Welten 1781–1871 (Essen: Klartext Verlag, 2008), 96–9. Regarding the fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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Neufeld informed me that this was not happening. The same, Johann Regier. 226. Johann Klassen to Johann Regier and Johann Cornies. 4 August 1838. SAOR 89-1-587/22.15 To the valued District Chairman, Johann Regier, and to the Society Chairman, Johann Cornies, Proposal and request. As you know, twenty-four years (rounded off) after the factory was founded, the entire enterprise fell prey to flames, presumably because of someone’s carelessness or malicious intent. The wind consumed all of the buildings. In ten minutes, at the most, everything was engulfed in flames. In the last few days I have learned that many would like to see the factory rebuilt. You could assist and also provide monetary support in this regard. Both of my sons-in-law would like to see the enterprise rebuilt and to supervise the rebuilding as best they could. We do not lack talent, but we do need help. As long as God gives me the strength, I could at least serve as an adviser. The situation requires an early decision. Fall approaches and people are out of work. They would gladly find work, making bricks and carting in clay and water. Should we have to wait until next spring, much time would be lost and summer would pass while forty family heads, many unaccustomed to working on the land, would be without either income or sustenance. If the essential buildings were raised quickly, an operating machine and a shearing machine could be brought in from Moscow. With transportation costs, this would cost about 6,000 rubles (one operating machine consists of two stretching machines, one pre-spinning machine, four fine spinning machines) that would enable us to achieve two-thirds of our previous production. The machines could arrive in two or two-and-a-half months while the buildings were being roofed. Looms are still available at a good price from the imperial factory in Ekaterinoslav. Except for the wood, all parts of the raw wool machines and presses are still usable. 15 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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Both dye-houses are functional and three copper kettles are in good condition. Only the walls, roof and floor need repairs. Were it not for the fire insurance, I could probably not expect other support. Yet outside support in replacing the loss, plus a year or two of patience, should result in a factory that is in better shape than it was before. More can be achieved with the new and improved machinery while arrangements that we developed long ago could be improved. The most important thing at the moment is to wash the wool quickly and to clean what had already been washed because it has been soiled by heat, water, and dust. To begin, we need a new container because the bottom [of the old one] is completely gone. Washing and drying should be started by mid-October. Please discuss this modest proposal with others as well as the question as to whether one might improve the straw roofs that have been a thorn in my side for years. With esteem, I am your humble Johann Klassen. Halbstadt, 4 August 1839. 227. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 12 August 1839. SAOR 89-1–521/68v. Mr. Fadeev, Our extreme drought is continuing as it has never before. The leaves on the trees are wilting and the tree fruits, baked by the relentless heat, are soft wherever they have been exposed to the sun. The harvest, however, has turned out moderately well. It is sufficient for our own needs and provides a surplus for sale. The grass is growing abundantly and we have harvested a two-year supply of hay. We have hosted several welcome guests. Mr. Doehring, Sarepta, arrived in Ohrloff on 29 July. He made notes about our approaches to agriculture and gained a different and better idea about what his community might introduce in Sarepta. On 5 August, the officials Evdokimov and Pelekh arrived unexpectedly in Halbstadt, having come from Odessa via Altonau. As ordered by the Minister, these gentlemen made an on-site investigation of the projected craftsmen’s village to be established at Halbstadt.16 They also travelled through the villages along the Tokmak as far as Schoensee, then along the Begemchokrak 16 Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 10, and docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499.

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Stream through Ruekenau. They spent the night at my Iushanle estate, and then visited Akkerman and the villages in the Kurushan as far as Ohrloff. They expressed their satisfaction about everything. Two sad accidents have regrettably occurred here within a short time. On 26 July, nine houses burned down in Sparrau village. The losses have been appraised at 32,968 rubles. On 1 August, Johann Klassen’s cloth factory in Halbstadt went up in flames, as did all of its machinery.17 Assessed at its taxable value, the damage is 48,914 rubles. To handle the debt that still attaches to the factory and to establish a new cloth factory, a commission of four able persons was appointed yesterday at a meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Crafts. It will begin its work on 14 August. We are seriously interested in ensuring that a better factory, with improved arrangements and operating methods, should be functioning within a year. We will do what we can to promote this development. In my letter of 26 June, I mentioned Martens’s health and seeming wellbeing. But two days after it was posted, a special messenger informed me that Martens was ill and asked me to come to Halbstadt quickly. Upon my arrival, I found him seriously in the grip of hypochondria, his earlier malady. It was immediately decided that he should leave for Piatigorsk. But then his condition unexpectedly improved and the journey was cancelled. It was a situation in which the condition improved one day, then deteriorated the next. First he wanted to travel to Piatigorsk, and then not. Finally, on 4 August, his wagon was about to leave to fetch water when he suddenly got into the wagon and left for the baths in Piatigorsk. In reporting respectfully the good health and well-being of my whole family, I have the honour to remain, with constant devotion, Yr. Honour’s faithful servant, Johann Cornies. 228. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 12 August 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/72. Dear Brother Heinrich Cornies, I would be very pleased if the window fastening, which I need badly, could soon be made. Brother David Cornies told me that the locksmith charges five rubles for each window fastening. You were of the opinion that it could be done for four rubles. In any case, if it cannot be done more cheaply, pay five rubles. I need to have the work done. 17 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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A visitor from Sarepta asked me to inquire in detail about how the school teacher Jonathan Rudolfe, who comes from Josephstal, is managing. He comes from Sarepta and his relatives need impartial information about him. How is he doing, how does he conduct himself, and what is the size of his family? Please make inquiries about these matters and report to me. Johann Cornies. 229. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 12 August 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/68. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I hereby inform you that your repayment of the money returning my advance on your wool purchase of 24,855 rubles, 33 kopeks arrived in good order on 10 August through the Novoaleksandrovka post office. Last week we had a delightful visit with Mr. Doehring from Sarepta who appeared unexpectedly on our doorstep. He travelled through some of our villages, making notes about agricultural subjects. He seems to have become thoroughly convinced that matters that had seemed impossible to establish in Sarepta were realizable. I take pleasure in thinking that in a few years’ time the economic situation in Sarepta will blossom with greater activity. This will be of great benefit for Sarepta and the surrounding region. Regrettably, however, Mr. Doehring had the distressing experience of seeing the cloth factory in Halbstadt go up in flames.18 Just an hour after Mr. Doehring and my son had been shown the machines and arrangements in the factory buildings they were turned to ash before their very eyes. Drought persists and the heat remains extreme, from twenty-eight to thirty-one degrees. God be praised that the harvest has been completed. It was moderately good and will provide a surplus to be sold. Johann Cornies. 230. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 12 August 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/70v. Mr. Keppen, Very severe drought persists. The leaves wilt on the trees and the fruit has turned yellow wherever it is exposed to the sun and baked by the heat. This has never happened before. Two very sad accidents

18 Ibid.

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have occurred here within a short period of time. Over the noon hour on 26 July the chimney of a dwelling in Sparrau village ignited. It was caused by a cook’s negligence while preparing the family’s meal. The great drought and strong winds spread the fire so quickly that the yards of seven fullholdings, including their barns and granaries, as well as two cottager houses were reduced to ash within an hour. Fortunately, no one was injured. The damage to buildings, a threshing machine, agricultural implements, tools, and furniture, however, amounts to 32,968 rubles. On 1 August, about Vesperzeit [the traditional light afternoon lunch] fire broke out in a building at the cloth factory of manufacturer Klassen in Halbstadt.19 Within half an hour, all of the factory buildings and the machines had fallen prey to the flames. According to the tax assessment, the loss is 48,914 rubles. At that moment, 236 individuals, old and young, had lost their livelihoods. It has proved impossible to discover the cause of the fire. The factory was founded by the current owner in 1815 and began to function on 1 August of that year. Since then, it has consistently benefited our community and the surrounding region. With esteem, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 231. District Office to Johann Cornies. 22 August 1839. SAOR 89-1-420/2. To the honourable Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, According to a directive from Colonial Inspector Pelekh of 21 August, you are required to pay your land tax to the District Office by 28 August. This is for the land you own on the Tashchenak, which consists of 3364 desiatinas, 2248 sazhen. The land tax is two and a half kopeks per desiatina, making a total of 84 rubles, 12 and a quarter kopeks. District Office in Halbstadt, 22 August 1839. District Deputy Braun. Paid 25 August 1839. 232. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. September 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/73. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, In response to your letter of 14 August, I assure you even though I suffered losses on the money you remitted because of rapid changes in

19 Ibid.

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the exchange rate, I would surely have incurred these losses even if I had not given you an advance. Please remain calm. A demand for compensation would have been unfair. I am relieved that the great swings in exchange rates have stopped. Please remit my money in Banko in future. Ten dozen sheep shears and seventeen volumes of the encyclopedia have arrived in good condition. Many thanks. With friendly greetings, Johann Cornies. 233. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 3 September 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/74. His Honour Steven, It is still my intention to send the Nogai, Ali Pasha, to the Crimea in fall to pick up forest-tree seeds collected from local forests. They are for use in our local Mennonite community. White maple, beech, and ash seeds are needed in particular. Kindly inform me as soon as possible when the seeds ripen and can be gathered up. Is it possible to obtain permission to gather the seeds ourselves and to whom should we apply for this purpose? We need a large quantity of forest-tree seeds, from ten to fifteen puds, to satisfy all local requests. With the appropriate esteem, Johann Cornies. 234. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 8 September 1839. SAOR 89-1-541/32. Heartfelt thanks for your friendly letter of 12 August. Great oaks grow from small seeds and Sarepta could well benefit from a variety of useful results that may well flow from Doehring’s visit to your settlement. What will our good Martens do in Piatigorsk at this time of year? It is too late to visit the baths and the Aleksandrov springs are closed. They are the most important ones for him. It is regrettable that you and his family could not talk him into leaving earlier. We, too, have had great heat and drought. Bread is expensive. Local crops did well, however, except for a shortage of hay. I have hosted several visitors from your neighbourhood, namely Mr. Steven and Hommaire, the Frenchman whom you know.20

20 Xavier Hommaire de Hell, the noted French geographer.

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I continue in the hope that I will be able to visit you next spring. Fare well, and give my greetings to all of yours, your friend, Fadeev. N.B. Did the continuation of the Conversations Lexicon [Encyclopedia] arrive from Prussia this year or even last year? 235. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 16 September 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/76. Mr. Steven, As soon as I received your esteemed letter, I dispatched Ali Pasha with a cart to gather various forest-tree seeds in the Crimea. Many thanks for your generous cooperation and for kindly ensuring that the Ministry of State Domains would permit Ali Pasha to gather up the forest-tree seeds. Awarding Ali Pasha a silver medal for his efforts will undoubtedly encourage him to continue to serve as an example to his Nogai brethren as they plant trees and pursue similar activities. Some will indeed try to follow in his footsteps. I feel honoured and rewarded beyond all expectations for the thanks I received directly from the Ministry. I will try hard to make myself worthy of this tribute to the extent of my limited abilities. With the appropriate esteem, Johann Cornies. 236. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 18 September 1839.21 His Honour Mr. Keppen, With confidence in Yr. Honour’s benevolence and the kindly inclinations shown me on so many occasions, I take the liberty to address you with great frankness. Your letter of 21 July 1839 reflects the confidence you have in me and does me great honour. Yet it is also an embarrassment to me and I do not quite know how to respond. The Ministry’s formal thanks for my report about conditions in the Molochnaia settlements and His Excellency, the Minister’s words of satisfaction came as a pleasant surprise and filled me with heartfelt joy. I find myself at a loss for words that express my feelings. Your unearned kindness will, of course, kindle in me further efforts to be of service. To the extent that I can, I will try to prove myself

21 Regarding this letter of recognition, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 221, 236.

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worthy of your approval and confidence. But I would humbly ask that, in future, you acknowledge my services but spare my conscience by not permitting the granting to me of any further recognition for the little I have managed to do. I am not sufficiently meritorious to receive such recognition and it would disturb my scruples. I have no desire other than to help in the establishment of the enduring welfare of my brethren in faith and of my neighbours. I would count it a special favour if you were kindly to accept my request. With the gratitude I owe you for your sincere and constant support, I have the honour, with the greatest respect, to be Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 237. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 18 September 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/77V.22 Mr. Keppen, I would gladly help to wipe out the cattle plague among the sheep belonging to the Nogais, but it has not yet been possible to make any further progress in Akkuia. The Nogais still live in their old huts, as they have done in the past. Whenever the matter was discussed, I felt that religious officials wanted to keep the Nogais under the thumb of their priests, despite the fact that the Nogais had often asked to be settled [in villages] themselves. Religious officials had no purpose other than to seduce the Nogais into their own hostile purposes and gain their own advantage. Nor could I shield the Nogais from this despotism. Now, however, that the new peasant administration will be functioning fully by the New Year, the Akkuia settlement will proceed to develop quickly next spring. This will also happen in a few other Nogai villages that have asked for settlements based on the same Akkerman plan. A large fire occurred in Akkuia on 13 September. Forty-five houses with all their crops, straw, and haystacks fell victim to the flames. The fire sites are still smoking today while shelterless families camp out on the open street. This summer, there was also fire damage here and there in several other villages of the Nogai district. Because of the drought, every flammable object was easily combustible. Most of the fire damage was probably caused by unrestricted smoking near grain and hay stacks. It is here that the Nogais lie around in groups to smoke tobacco. 22 Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, note 12, and docs. 41, 108, 128, 209, 212, 234, 249, 280, 395, 469, 548, 620.

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Stringent prohibitions on smoking along streets, in barns, and near grain and hay stacks would prevent fires and would be of great benefit to the Nogais, as would directives demanding the disposal of ashes in locations set aside for this purpose. 238. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 18 September 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/79. Mr. Keppen In addition to the three skulls found in the vault near the village of Lichtfelde, I also enclose three stones from a deposit between granite stones on the east bank of the Iushanle near the Steinbach estate. This is actually a special deposit. My attention was drawn to these stones by their striking difference from other rocks. For this reason I am sending them to you for examination. 239. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 18 September 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/79. Mr. Keppen, In the Molochnaia Mennonite District, field crops did not turn out as well as we had hoped in early summer. The rye harvest was generally poor and insufficient for our needs. People report that the wheat yield was moderate, but with enough of a surplus to be sold. The summer drought resulted in a small potato harvest. Too little barley was harvested for our needs, but there was a considerable surplus of oats. Hay was plentiful. Our flax crop greatly exceeded that of last year with long stalks and generally luxurious growth. Tree fruits suffered from the severe drought and from a series of violent storms that tore most of the fruit from the trees. Livestock on pasture were extremely thin this summer. In several places, cattle plague is raging out of control and since absolutely no police measures have been taken to prevent this, it continues to spread. A leech infestation has again appeared among the sheep, especially among the lambs. We have suffered a severe drought and no rain has fallen since 6 July. We had a few showers on 25 August, but only in several places. We cannot seed the winter grain because the soil is too hard to be worked. Grain prices are rising. The price of rye is already three silver rubles per chetvert, wheat sells at five rubles, barley at two and a half and oats at two. There is no demand for sheep or for fat geldings.

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240. Peter Keppen to Johann Cornies. 23 September 1839. SAOR 89-1-604/4. I know that I am greatly indebted to you, but please excuse me for not replying earlier. I simply have more work than I can accomplish, but have thankfully put all of your kind communications to good use. Enclosed is a special offprint of your report on conditions in the Mennonite villages in 1838 that appeared in the Russian agricultural newspaper and in the Russian newspaper in St. Petersburg. Once the article appears in the German newspaper, I will send you several copies. Enclosed also is an extract from your information about the excavations. A notice about the burning down of the cloth factory is in today’s newspaper.23 The agricultural newspaper thankfully accepted your report about livestock breeding and herding that appeared in print long ago. Many people will surely be grateful for the notices you submit. I am especially pleased to note the good progress your settlements are making. May God grant that they continue to flourish. With honest devotion, I have the honour to be your devoted servant, Keppen. 241. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 1 October 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/82v. Dear Brother, I have received the hinges in good condition and thank you for your efforts. Enclosed are a hundred and twenty-seven rubles, sixty kopeks to pay for them. Please ensure that Mr. Hahn pays his remaining debt.24 I would also ask that you encourage the director of police, Mikhail Lisovtsev, to pay you the 1000 rubles borrowed from me until September. I will send you the promissory note in return. Our daughter Agnes has been quite ill but has now recovered. Johann may leave to travel to Prussia via Odessa as early as this week. Keep your little Agnes at home until spring. If she lives with us in summer, it is better for us and for her. Do visit us soon. Your Brother, Johann Cornies. 23 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710. 24 Probably a reference to the debt of Peter Hahn. See TSUS, vol. 2, note 15, and docs. 14, 23, 66, 70, 71, 104, 105, 132, 133, 206, 241.

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242. Wilhelm Martens to Johann Cornies. 2 October 1839. SAOR 89-1-554/2. Highly valued friend, Convinced of your friendship and kindness, I venture to approach you about the following matter. According to the enclosed receipt for 500 rubles, Georg Engelhard and Thomas Steel, residents of the Karass settlement, are obligated to deliver 625 bottles of mineral water to me in Halbstadt. I paid them 500 rubles in cash immediately. Till now they have done nothing in this regard and I doubt that they will. I would therefore humbly ask you, with the first mail, to use your influence with Mr. Paterson in Piatigorsk.25 Since you know him, you might ask him to urge these people to deliver the above-mentioned water to me as soon as possible. In fact, instead of the 400 bottles of Chelochei and 200 bottles of Saunes water I ordered, they should simply deliver 600 bottles of the former and another 25 bottles of bitter water. I am in great need of these waters. Should they have further unforeseen expenses, either for the water itself or otherwise, these might be put on my account. I will gladly reimburse them for expenses. Should these persons refuse to meet their obligations, despite Mr. Paterson’s urging, the latter might apply to the local administration to require them to do so without fail. These residents of Karass assured me they would deliver this water, otherwise I would not have returned home and closed my accounts. Please do not deny me this favour. With a heartfelt greeting, I am your honest friend, Wilhelm Martens. 243. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 19 October 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/83v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Via the Novoaleksandrovka post office, I have just received the 5000 rubles remitted to me as a deposit on the sale of my wool. I simply do not know how to protect the wool from becoming mixed in with fodder while it is still on the sheep, although I too find it very distasteful. The problem stems from a particular grass found in the hay. It does not grow on the steppes here every year, but only in very fruitful years when it becomes part of the fleece during haying time.

25 Alexander Paterson. See TSUS, vol. 2, note 31.

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My own observations indicate that this year’s wool is quite clean of such fodder. Agnes was painfully ill for four weeks, but is now up and about, thank God. Johann leaves early tomorrow morning for West Prussia to settle several family matters and I have accompanied him thus far. He commends himself kindly to you and your dear family. With friendly greetings, your obligated friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 244. Johann Cornies Jr. to Johann Cornies. 26 October 1839. SAOR 89-1-554/47. Most esteemed Father, We arrived safely in Odessa on Monday evening, 23 October. The journey went well, except for a half-day wait on this side of Nikolaiev because all [post] horses were already in use. Things have not gone quickly here either. It took two days for the city office to give me passes. Then it was back to the police station and tax office, both of which delayed me. However, I am ready to start and intend to leave tomorrow, 27 October, at 8 o’clock. My posting permit is only to Ustliug and there I must obtain another one. We are, thank God, still healthy and I heartily wish you, dear Mother and sister, and acquaintances well. I remain, with respect, your obedient son, Johann Cornies. 245. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 30 October 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/84v. Esteemed Mr. Doehring, I am still waiting to hear from you, concerned to know whether you are well and have returned home in good health. My son left on 20 October, travelling by post to Prussia. He could not start his journey earlier because his sister Agnes lay seriously ill for five weeks and he had to wait for her condition to improve. God be praised, she is on her feet again, though still weak. Prices here are rising for all grains: wheat is selling for more than five silver rubles; rye for more than four; while prices for other grains are comparable. The cattle plague is raging and has already broken out in a few of our villages. Sheep are in better condition than they were a year ago.

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A commission has been appointed to decide on the future of the burned-out cloth factory, but has not yet reached a conclusion.26 I enclose the promised seeds for ash, black acacia, wild olive, and wild plum stone trees. Ash and wild plum should come up in two years, the others, if it is not too late to plant them now, should come up next spring. I could not get any seeds for “Cornelkirschen.” I will send you whatever is still missing in March 1840. Your willing friend, Johann Cornies. 246. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 30 October 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/85v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I again take the liberty of coming to you with a request. Kindly order the Prussian state newspapers for me for next year, 1840. Put them in my name and withdraw all related expenses from my account. Yesterday, in a quite violent storm, we had the first snowfall. We had earlier enjoyed beautiful spring-like days, although it was dry. Grain prices are rising. Sheep-breeding is better than it was last year at this time. Cattle plague rages among horned cattle around us and has already broken out in several of our villages. Your always loving friend, Johann Cornies. 247. Johann Cornies Jr. (in Warsaw) to Johann Cornies. 7 November 1839. SAOR 89-1-420/9. Most esteemed Father, After a 10-day journey from Odessa, we arrived in Warsaw on 5 November. The road from Odessa was quite good except for heavy rains during the first two days until we reached Balta. The next day the ground was frozen and then firm. From Falchik to Ustshelak we travelled on a good, frozen, and well-used road. It was only about seven verstas from the latter place to the main road where we travelled well, even though it was foggy and mild. I only received passes from the guberniia office today and now we intend to leave here tomorrow, 8 November. With a filial greeting to you and to beloved Mother and sister, I endeavour to be your obedient son, Johann Cornies. 26 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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248. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Cornies. 10 November 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/86v. Dear Brother Heinrich, I enclose the promissory note for Mr. Lisovtsev for forty-seven half Imperials and three rubles in silver currency owed me since last April. It should have been repaid 1 July. I enclose a letter in which I strongly admonish him to repay his debts in exchange for his promissory note. Do not permit the promissory note to leave your hands until you have received the complete sum. Summon him to meet you and write to me immediately about the results. Johann left Odessa on 27 October. Praise God, we are all well. My greetings to Mr. Eggert. Johann Cornies. 249. Johann Cornies Jr. [in Neutiech, W. Prussia] to Johann Cornies. 29 November 1839. SAOR 89-1-645/57. Most esteemed Father, My trip to West Prussia has been very successful thus far. It took a day to travel from Warsaw to Mawa and a half day from there to Neidenburg. There I rented a horse and wagon to Marienburg, where I arrived on 11 November. I went to see Mr. D. Epp in Heubuden on 12 November, spent the night there and visited Mr. F. Lange who was lodging with Mr. Rempel in Kaldowa. That same day, 13 November, I also travelled to Neuteich to see Mr. J. Wiebe where I left my belongings. I have been in Neuteich until now. With little snow, the roads are still bumpy and not much travelled. The thermometer fell to eleven degrees Reamur two days ago and it seems that light, one-horse sleds can already be driven across rivers. Autumn here has been very dry. The water in the rivers is low and there will likely be a shortage of water in wells and ditches should the frost continue. Since cattle have been fed on grain almost everywhere, people have much hope for their winter seeding. I intend to go to the Kleine Werder this week, to Danzig right after Christmas, and then to Marienwerder. Peter Schmidt has gone to the Culm lowlands with Mr. F. Lange. Mr. Lange intends to travel to Russia when the winter ends. Because posting regulations in the periods between 15 September and 1 December and between 1 March and 1 May require the use of three horses when two persons are travelling, my trip through Russia

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and Poland by post cost 426 rubles, twenty-six kopeks. At that time I had to pay for three horses as well as forty kopeks for the wagon in which we travelled. The rest of the time, only two horses were required. I hope that Agnes has recovered completely from her illness. With filial greetings to dear Mother and sister, I remain your devoted son, Johann Cornies. 250. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 30 November 1839. SAOR 89-1-521/92. His Honour, State Counsellor Steven, I have given Yr. Honour’s most esteemed commission my most diligent attention. I have made every effort to send the reports I owe you in regard to the subjects of fruit cultivation, the propagation of fruit trees, vegetable cultivation, sericulture, and the cultivation of mulberry hedges and fodder plants in the local Molochnaia Mennonite District in 1839. But I am not in a position to complete all of these reports by the set date. The District is too large and far-flung for me to survey accurately and quickly all of the noteworthy subjects about which I should be reporting. Moreover, our beautiful fall weather encouraged tree-planters to plant more trees. I therefore delayed counting the trees so that my reports could be made as complete as possible. I take the liberty to send you the enclosed three lithographed maps of the Molochnaia Mennonite and Colonist [German] settlements, with the most humble request that you kindly accept one of them for yourself and send the other two to State Counsellor Keppen in St. Petersburg. 30 November [1839] To the above. I received your two most esteemed and gratifying communications dated 17 October and 1 November in good order at the appropriate time and I thank you very much for the seed and instructions for its planting. Ali Pasha arrived promptly with a large number of forest-tree seeds. I am much obliged to you for your kind assistance in obtaining them. It was gratifying to see Ali Pasha as he solemnly displayed his trees for sale on market day in Novoaleksandrovka, his medal attached to a red ribbon on his chest. Several hundred trees from his nursery were piled high in front of him, sorted by variety. Peasants in large numbers stood around admiringly and when they asked him how he had merited such an honour, he proudly pointed to his trees.

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As soon as I received your second letter, I reviewed my supply of cheeses but found, to my great regret, that I could not satisfy your wishes completely. I have only two old cheeses with a combined weight of twenty-eight funt. A few days ago I found a way of forwarding them to you when a dependable Nogai acquaintance offered to take them along after the “Bairam” festival. Then, if the good weather holds, he plans to cart wheat to Simferopol. The price of wheat has not risen further. It is now six silver rubles per chetvert of wheat, three and a half silver rubles for rye, two and a half silver rubles for oats and millet. Thank God that we managed to complete our winter seeding. Most of our grain has come up nicely. The cattle plague continues to rage in the area around us. The sheep are better this year than last but liver rot is still showing up in some places, now and then. If it is not too much trouble, Yr. Honour and State Counsellor, please send me a pud of Lucerne clover seed, by mail and on my account. We have still had no snow even though it was fifteen degrees below freezing on 23 November. Now it is only three degrees with clouds for the last several weeks. May I, kind State Counsellor, bring a small matter to your attention. I have had to pay the Novoaleksandrovka Post Office a charge for every package I have sent by mail as a Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee. Is there not a directive requiring that all packages and letters from Corresponding Members of the Learned Committee be sent postage free? If this is the case, I would request that the Novoaleksandrovka Post Office be so informed. Otherwise, I will of course gladly, for the sake of the general good, pay the few rubles of postage as before. 251. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 10 December 1839. SAOR 89-1-651/2. Highly valued Mr. Cornies, Many thanks for your interesting report concerning the development of fruit cultivation, etc. I will soon submit it to the Ministry with my main report. Your wish to mail correspondence postage-free on matters concerning crown business is reasonable and I have sent this proposal forward in today’s mail. I do not doubt that the postal department will take appropriate action, but it may be a few months before a directive reaches Novoaleksandrovka.

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I will dispatch the Lucerne seed you asked for as soon as I return to the city. We have not had much snow. Our freezing temperatures have not dropped to more than minus eleven degrees. The temperature on the coast has already reached minus six degrees, really low for this time of year. Grain prices remain stationary and will probably not rise. Some grains are even cheaper than before. Hay, previously fourteen rubles, is barely thirteen now. First-quality wheat was thirty-two to thirtythree [rubles per pud], but is now down to twenty-eight to twenty-nine rubles. Only oats and barley have remained at fourteen rubles. As far as I know, sheep and cattle have not suffered from any diseases, but we fear that sheep may well have difficulty in again finding enough winter fodder because of our dry fall. I would be much in your debt, if you could give me some information, however brief, about progress you have made in cattle and sheep breeding. I also thank you for the beautiful map of the Molochnaia settlements. The two copies designated for State Counsellor Keppen will, as you requested, be sent to him with today’s mail. With esteem, your devoted C. Steven. 252. Johann Cornies to Gerhard Enns, et al. 20 December 1839. SAOR 89-1-646/19.27 [Draft:] From the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, To the esteemed member of the Society for the Improvement of Agriculture, Gerhard Enns in Altonau, In its communication No. 5469 of 24 August 1839, the Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains reports that the attention of agronomists abroad is being drawn to a very hardy, fruitful variety of white wheat known as Whittington wheat, which can be sown either as winter or as summer wheat. It has an advantage over all other varieties of wheat in ripening early and producing large ears and kernels on tall, strong stems of straw. It is remarkable for its great fruitfulness and for the excellent flour it produces. Since the Third Department wishes to encourage the dissemination of this new variety of wheat, it has ordered that it be tested in various

27 Regarding experiments with Whittington wheat, see docs. 252, 364, 371, 378, 508.

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areas of the Russian Empire. These experiments should demonstrate what types of climate and soil are most suitable for its growth. The Department has sent me one funt of the wheat and requests that we test it by seeding it in autumn and also in spring, and asks to be informed about the results. The Department adds further information: 1. If the soil is fruitful, it is not advisable to use manure. 2. Mr. Whittington, after whom the wheat is named, has had six years of experience with it, showing that it succeeds on poor soil, that it produces more straw than other varieties of wheat, that it survives in all kinds of weather, and that it does not degenerate. 3. It claims that last year eighteen puds of this seed yielded 450 puds of wheat on moderately manured soil, which is actually a twenty-fivefold yield. 4. Nine puds were sown on one desiatina. It was noticed that one kernel produced thirty to forty ears, many of them five to seven inches long, with few ears shorter than four inches. 5. In England it is seeded in mid-March and is ripe by 10 July. I have just received a duplicate of this description and another funt of the same seed from Baron Rosen, President of the Tavrida Domains Bureau. He also commissioned me to test it here. I am therefore sending you one-third of this quantity with the respectful request that you test it next spring and autumn in the manner described. Please inform me about the results. In addition to the above, I am sending you a translation of the esteemed Third Department’s communication from Baron Heining that describes several agricultural grain varieties brought from America. Included are small quantities of seeds of each variety so that they can be tested next summer. Kindly inform me of the results. From Chairman. [Also] To Society member Jacob Martens in Tiegenhagen [Also] To the esteemed first colleague of the Chairman of the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture, Johann Regier in Schoensee. 253. Heinrich Mathias to Johann Cornies. 20 December 1839. SAOR 89-1-420/6. Worthy, esteemed Mr. Cornies, I begin with greetings. I am sending you this money with my servant because I just happened to have it on hand. However, since one of the

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ducats has been clipped a little, I request that you accept it for whatever it is worth. 1. Rubles banco assignat 2. 13 half Imperials 3. 2 Dutch ducats 4. 46 Spanish thaler 5. 4 1/2 silver rubles 6. 1 Prussian thaler Total

525 234.32 20.50 213.90 15.75 3.19 1012.66

Heinrich Mathias. 254. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 29 December 1839. SAOR 89-1-541/2. Dear Cornies, You must certainly have heard that I have been transferred to Saratov. This happened quite unexpectedly, without warning. I hurried to move my family and whole household from Astrakhan before the Volga froze over. We departed from Astrakhan on 5 November by steamboat and were stopped by ice covering the river on 7 November. We continued our journey overland, experiencing great difficulties, but arrived here safely, praise God. Time will tell whether things will be better here than in Astrakhan. Thus far I have only discovered that five times as much business is conducted here than there. There are 320,000 peasant souls here, but no settlers [foreign colonists], although the population could nearly be doubled by the settling of colonists. I only hope the administration will support my efforts in this laborious work. I would be very pleased to continue our correspondence in my leisure time. We are having a severe winter and the harvest is bad as well, but the prices for necessities are moderate. How are they in your area? May you fare well. Please give my greetings to all your loved ones. Did Martens return and did the baths help him? Your totally and constantly devoted, A. Fadeev.

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255. Proposal for a crop insurance scheme. Undated (1839?). SAOR 89-1-532/4.28 Proposal. This is a response to a suggestion received from His Excellency, the General Guardian of Settlers in Southern Russia, that it might be useful to insure the grain fields in the Molochnaia Mennonite District against hail damage, just as such arrangements have, for example, been made in the Baltic Sea provinces. The Society for the Advancement of Agriculture and Trades and the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office have held many discussions about the matter. They all ended without success. Finally, after many debates, the parties have agreed to express their opinion on the following points. If the Guardianship Committee should recognize these as appropriate, they could be introduced to the incontestable advantage of the settlers. 1. It is assumed that owners of grain fields damaged by hail would not be compensated for the complete value of their losses, but only at one-third the actual loss. In the worst case, involving a moderate crop, such compensation would assure everyone of seed grain for the next crop year and of provisions for one year. 2. In addition to village grain fields in this district, only grain fields situated on land owned or leased by persons of this district will be accepted for insurance. They must not be farther than fifty verstas from the most distant village. 3. To provide for the best supervision of this institution, the district will be divided into three regions. Three men will be selected in each region, to be confirmed in office for an indefinite time period by the District Office and the Society. They will appraise damages when hail occurs. According to the regulations, these men will be compensated for their travels from community dues, but are otherwise not exempted from travel duties. Should one of these men himself suffer hail damage, 28 This proposal is not dated or signed, but appears at this point in the SAOR index. It seems to come from the office of either Johann Cornies or the Agricultural Society. The handwriting suggests it was copied by one of Cornies’ secretaries in the late 1830s or early 1840s.

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another man from one of the other regions will substitute for him in the making of an impartial assessment. 4. Summons to make an assessment in the villages will be sent directly to the assessors by the village offices affected. In the case of land which is owned or leased they will come directly from the individuals affected. This must take place immediately on the day it occurs, or on the next day at the latest. Delayed reports will not be accepted. 5. The assessors will proceed immediately to the site where the damage took place, and evaluate it in comparison to other grain fields that were spared, registering the event and the extent of the assumed damage. Shortly before harvest time, but before anyone in the affected village has started harvesting, the assessors will make a second report with the earlier report of the event in hand, again inspecting the same fields and making an evaluation of the actual damage. Exact notification should then be made to the District Office without delay, including the signatures of at least three assessors. Any reports after the first report will not be accepted and no one has a right to submit any further demands. This method of assessment is employed because hail damage may appear less serious because of favourable weather. On the other hand, all grain fields might later suffer from drought and heat so that the assessment done at the best time could greatly exceed the actual damage. 6. For every chetvert of grain harvested, which includes rye, wheat, barley and oats, all owners pay the District Office one silver kopek annually by 1 October. This goes into a fund established for the purpose of insuring one-third of the entire harvest against hail damage. 7. To provide accurate information, the exact quantity of grain harvested by every participant must be recorded annually during the month of September. The collection of these records will be organized by the Society and recorded in autumn and in spring. They will be obtained from samples taken during the threshing. These will then be divided into the number of desiatinas seeded. 8. Damage will be reimbursed in cash on the basis of the average prices at which the relevant varieties of grain have been sold on location. 9. The accounts for this insurance scheme will be maintained by the District Office in a running account book provided for this purpose by the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers. 10. The surplus in insurance monies is deposited in the Commercial Bank in Odessa to earn interest. If in one year, hail damage requires

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a larger compensation than the amount of insurance money collected that year, the rest of the money needed is withdrawn from the bank on the basis of legal procedures. 11. Should hail damage occur during the first year after the establishment of this insurance plan in a sum that exceeds insurance money paid up to that point by the insured plus whatever will be collected during that year, then those who have suffered damage will be satisfied with the capital for that year, including interest, and cannot make claims for additional payment. The Society and District Office assume that approximately 150,000 chetverts of grain will be grown in the district. At one kopek per chetvert, this amount will equal 1500 silver rubles. Assuming that damage caused by hail storms is not considerable, this amount could come to equal a quite large sum of money. Because the highest annual premium for insuring sixty-five desiatinas of land will be only one and a half silver rubles, not only is every participant in this insurance plan insured for one-third of his entire grain harvest but the whole community gains an advantage without affecting individual household economies. This capital sum acquired over many years could reach a tidy sum and, with general agreement, could be partially employed for other useful purposes and provide benefits for the Molochnaia Mennonite community and its descendants.

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256. Abraham Isaac to Johann Cornies. 2 January 1840. SAOR 89-1-769/1. Valued friend and brother in Christ, Experience confirms the truth of our perceptions that we live in unstable times. We must pay heed to the general circumstances of the day and also to specific matters such as those involving our School Society. The Society was formed in 1820 and signed promissory notes for the capital borrowed to construct the school. Owners of these documents are entitled to interest from the Society’s treasury even though the treasury has never been able to pay such interest or to repay the capital in the past. Persons who made the loans may have done so out of a sense of charity and may be ready to allow this situation to continue. Still, problems may arise when creditors die and the promissory notes pass into the hands of heirs or guardians. Please think of how we might avoid problems of this sort in future. Would it be desirable to talk to the creditors? Might they be willing to arrange matters on a new basis? Perhaps you could visit me or Ohm Peter Isaac and give us your personal views. Awaiting your visit, I remain your loving friend and brother, Abraham Isaac. 257. Johann Cornies to Civil Governor Muromtsev. 8 January 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/1. Your Excellency Muromtsev, Today, 8 January 1840, the Novoaleksandrovka post office correctly forwarded the sum of 6,000 rubles to me. This is money I had advanced

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

to Yr. Excellency’s administrator Mikhailo Pushkarov on 27 May 1839, at Yr. request and with your signature. Enclosed, with my devoted thanks, is the promissory note Mikhailo Pushkarov gave me for the money. If my humble services might be useful to Yr. Excellency in future, I would ask that you allow me to carry out Yr. Honour’s wishes, as my abilities allow. Willing and eager to be of service, I strive to be Yr. Excellency’s most devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 258. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 8 January 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/1v. Most esteemed Mr. Blueher, When a transport opportunity in Kharkov arises, you will again receive three crates of reeled silk with a net weight of one pud, ten funt, eighteen lot. Please sell the silk in Moscow on consignment and send me the bill of sale. It would be desirable to have you share with me the views of knowledgeable people about the quality, evenness, and fineness of the threads. We would like to avoid flaws in our silk in future. We have a great deal of snow but little cold. Russian villages seventy verstas to the east suffered a massive storm that buried their houses totally in snow and owners could enter them only through their roofs. God be praised, everyone is well in our family. On the occasion of the New Year, we wish you and your dear family health for the future and everything positive that you might desire for your body and soul. With love and affection, I remain, as always, your honestly faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 259. Johann Cornies to Kniazevich. 18 January 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/2v. Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, I submit a short description, “Overview of progress in culture and civilization among the Nogais in Melitopol District,” and respectfully request that, if this description answers to the purposes of the praiseworthy Agricultural Association of South Russia, it be printed in the agricultural newspaper. I further commend myself to your kindness and assure you respectfully of my lifelong fidelity as Yr. Excellency’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. Mr. Kniazevich in Odessa

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260. Johann Cornies to Johann Cornies, Jr. 20 January 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/3. Dear Son in West Prussia, We received your letter of 29 November from Neuteich with the greatest pleasure and are happy to see that you and your travelling companions arrived safely. The letter arrived rather late, on 8 January. Thank God, we are all healthy and there is nothing new in Steinbach to report. In general, nothing noteworthy has transpired since you left. Rainy weather commenced immediately after your departure and the winter seeding in Tashchenak could be finished in time for the seed to sprout. It snowed for several days. The frost was moderate and the snow lay evenly to a depth of a fut on the steppe, a little deeper at Tashchenak. A severe snowstorm in the eastern part of the District, however, continued for days and cut communications with villages. The villages hit hardest farther to the east were Rudnerweide and Pastwa where mounds of snow the size of houses crushed two granaries. Here most snow disappeared ten days ago and rivers overflowed their banks, flooding lowlands. Fortunately the thaw was moderate, but if rain had suddenly melted the snow, many villages would have had serious flooding. Although the snow has disappeared almost completely in our area, many villages may well suffer severe flooding from the two feet of snow that remains on the flat steppe around Tokmak mogila, unless there is considerable frost within a short time. Last night we had two degrees of frost, with winds from the north. Wiens just arrived from Popovka and reported that in the area beyond Pastwa, many houses have been completely covered with snow, and owners can only enter them through their roofs. Most rabbits have been killed and heaps of rabbit skins are arriving at local markets. In Tashchenak alone our people caught more than 400 rabbits and sold their pelts. At Tashchenak, the dam beside the old threshing floor has been completed and the buildings constructed last summer have been roofed. The sheepfold is already in use. The sheep at Iushanle are doing moderately well and the sheep at Tashchenak very well. Cattle plague is no longer raging in our villages, but is still a serious problem in Akkerman, Astrakhanka, Novonikolaievka, and on the Martens estate in Tashchenak. The future of the cloth factory awaits a decision that will require a choice between two alternatives. It is hard to say if Klassen will stay

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on as owner since he is responsible for its accumulated debt.1 In Steinbach people eagerly await Lange’s return because the school cannot continue without him. It is essential that you buy a Nivellier level and receive instruction on its use. Look after yourself. When appropriate, give our greetings in places where I am remembered with love. Also to your travelling companions. We send you thousands of special greetings from your mother, your sister, and from everyone here at Iushanle and Tashchenak. Longing for an early happy reunion, your father who loves you, Johann Cornies. P.S. As they would likely not reach you before your departure, I will probably not write further letters to you. Please write four weeks prior to your departure. Letters from Novoaleksandrovka are now sent directly to all regions of the world. Mengbase arrived from Tashchenak bearing news that all dams are full of water. 261. Johann Cornies to [Johann] Wiebe. 20 January 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/4v. Esteemed Mr. Wiebe, dear friend, I must finally contact you and not strain your patience any further. You are kind in writing to me despite my negligence in not answering your letters. If we all did this surely many more bonds of mutual friendship and more faithfulness and love would exist. In my heart, I preserve the old bond of love and affection for you. It is as firm as ever and always the same. Yet, despite my intentions, I cannot conduct a correspondence with you and other good friends since the number and variety of my business affairs make this impossible. Still, I will continue to write because a matter postponed is not a matter ended. Out of the kindness of your heart, please excuse me as you are able. I will try to throw off my nagging guilt and answer you more diligently. Now, down to business. I received 240 thalers from Johann Sprung and in accordance with your instructions bought sixty good, young, well-matched ewes at twelve rubles per head and one ram at fifty 1

Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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rubles. The total comes to 770 rubles, or 240 thalers. At an exchange rate of three rubles, nineteen kopeks, 240 thalers equal 765 rubles, sixty kopeks. The terms under which I now place my sheep with the Nogais have changed. To some they seem less advantageous for the owner, but basically they are better for both parties. Briefly, they are as follows. After four years, the owner divides the flock into two equal parts as follows. Should an owner transfer fifty sheep to a Nogai for four years and if this number were to increase to 100 or more ewes at the end of that period, the owner would have the right to select fifty of the best ewes from the flock that is to be divided. The Nogai, on the other had, would receive fifty ewes as they pass through a gate, without making any selections. If there are fewer ewes than double the number given initially to the Nogai, the owner selects the best half of them and the rest of those bred would be selected individually by the owner and the Nogai, alternately, the best each time. The rams would be sorted evenly by the parties according to their quality. At the time of a division, every sheep lost or for which no pelt can be produced and every sheep slaughtered without agreement must be replaced by the Nogai, in kind. The latter must be a living sheep of exactly the same age and quality from the Nogai’s own flock after the division has been made. The Nogai no longer pays half as his part of the rams, but only twelve rubles per head. Additional costs incurred for the rams are assumed by the owner. I have placed your sheep with the Nogai Irsmambet in Edinokhta on the above terms and have concluded a legal contract with him. I hope he will work well with them, as you wish. Last year, conditions for sheep in all of southern Russia were dreadful. Estate owners lost many thousands to liver rot. Even among Mennonite sheep owners many were totally ruined. This winter sheep are still dying here and there, but the Nogais’ sheep are healthy and the situation favourable. Since the government has taken measures to ensure that Spanish sheep will be better protected from raging infectious diseases and starvation, Spanish sheep breeding is sure to develop more favourably. This should soon bear fruit in the speedy blossoming of agricultural endeavours among the Nogais. On my initiative, I established a commission in this regard that charges an annual fee of ten kopeks per sheep. The commission consists of two industrious Mennonites who know how to manage Spanish sheep breeding. One is a sheep doctor. With the addition of a dependable Nogai member, the commission supervises and regulates sheep

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breeding under the protection of the District Administration for State Domains and on the basis of the latter’s essential orders. I have taken the liberty of sending my son directly to you. His main purposes are to note methods of winter feeding of livestock by estate owners and to see the land of his fathers. We are in a dilemma about our Prussian brethren who visited us last year, and earlier, especially those who do nothing profitable and useful for themselves, even in their fatherland. They have absurd attitudes and antiquated ideas about Russia. I can scarcely believe that they are Mennonites from such an enlightened state as Prussia. Some have told me that they have absorbed such ideas from preachers and prominent community leaders. As you well know and frequently hear, we are in a constant battle here in our community because people are alive. If they were dead, there would be no struggle nor would anything positive be achieved. What is dead produces nothing. What the English Parliament is on a large scale, the Molochnaia Mennonites are on a small scale. Yet once something is finally decided, it is not necessary to discuss it further. Should you ever hear that the Molochnaia Mennonite community is calm, you can safely conclude that it is in a state of advanced decay. If you can, please ask Hamm and Schroeter to have my wife’s family choose someone to receive the previously mentioned sum of money this spring. With earnest greetings to you from me and my wife, I remain your honestly sympathetic Johann Cornies. 262. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 20 January 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/8. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I hereby inform you that I received the sum of 15,000 rubles in good order. My sincerest thanks for your kind interest in what is happening in our family. Be assured that my family and I think of you often and with much love, especially my children who thoroughly enjoyed their stay with you and so many good things in your family. As parents we are pleased that we have children who do not forget such kindness. Our region had unusually deep snow for all of December, but it has now almost totally melted and properly moistened the soil. Grain prices now are seventeen rubles per chetvert for wheat, twelve for rye,

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ten for barley, ten for oats. Sheep are surviving better this year, but are still dying in some places. When Mr. Doehring was here, I suggested that Spanish sheep be introduced in larger numbers in Sarepta, and offered to make 500 ewes or more available on credit at low prices, with payment over two or three years. In this way it would be easier for individuals with limited means to acquire sheep and redeem the purchase price completely or almost completely from the sale of wool. What do you say to this? I have not yet had an answer from Sarepta. You can see that I am bombarding Sarepta with suggestions, chiefly because I noticed an interest in sheep raising there and am convinced that efficiently managed sheep breeding can enrich the community and cause it to flourish. Granted, all beginnings are difficult but difficulties will continue unless someone tries to introduce change. I have by now introduced more than 40,000 Spanish sheep among the Nogais. The efforts and struggles were great indeed, but since the Nogais now have thousands of silver rubles jingling in their pockets from the annual sale of wool and sheep, they recognize the great advantages to be gained from Spanish sheep-breeding. I do not tire easily if convinced that I can direct change to the advantage of others. Nor do I give up easily, even if I suffer a few disadvantages myself. This is simply the way I am. The impetus and strength for this comes from Him, who is not of this world. I know my duty and, as long as I can see, I will work hard to bring about anything that redounds to the advantage of my neighbour in whatever direction that may be and to the limit of my powers. With warm greetings, I commend myself to your further love and remain your willing friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 263. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 21 January 1840.2 SAOR 89-1-647/10v. Mr. State Counsellor Steven, Two Molokan peasants in Novovasilevka village, Mikhailo Andreev and Larion Voroshchev, both wealthy agriculturalists, laid out small fruit orchards beside their houses several years ago. They also planted seeds and raised trees to be transplanted from nurseries. Determined to

2

Regarding the efforts of the Molokans Andreev and Voroshchev to establish a tree nursery, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 263, 300, 333, 360, 466.

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acquire the needed knowledge for tree planting, they frequently visited my plantation. A year ago, because the area beside their houses was too small, they asked me for advice about acquiring land near their village to establish larger orchards and tree nurseries, and to do so properly. They suggested a piece of land situated close to their village, four desiatinas, 400 faden in size and enclosed by a ditch. Seven years ago, on the administration’s orders, this area was designated as a village fruit tree plantation. Not a single tree was planted, however, and it was allowed to lie waste, unused and covered with weeds. The two had already asked the community for the plot but the community would not agree, partly out of envy and partly because it feared that this might prompt the administration to take notice of them and force all of them to plant trees. I told them not to lose hope and suggested they postpone the matter until the new administrative office was opened and they could then send a petition directly to the office director. I suggested that their usefulness would be recognized if they did their part by undertaking to plant the whole piece of designated land with good fruit trees and by keeping them alive and well cared for. Moreover, by raising nursery trees in large numbers, they might demonstrate qualities of good management and industry and be accorded the use of this piece of land with its plantations as if it belonged to them, to be passed on to their descendents in return for the payment of legally required taxes. Yesterday, however, I got a letter from these men, and it has discouraged me greatly. I take the liberty of enclosing the original. It is rude and daring for lower officials to circumvent the Imperial government’s philanthropic attitudes on behalf of the well-being of its inhabitants and mislead the peasants for hostile purposes. This Mr. Kalenichenko was formerly a local assessor (zasedatel) and he still acts in that spirit. I would urgently ask Yr. Honour to intercede with the appropriate authorities and help these wealthy, diligent, and orderly Molokans in whatever way you can. It would arouse greater zeal for the planting of trees, and teach lower officials a lesson not to frighten peasants away from such good and useful endeavours. Both of these Molokans are ready and willing to start planting at the first sign of good weather in spring. It would be best for them if this matter were resolved soon. This is my plea. It embarrasses me that I have not yet sent you a full and accurate overview of the progress we have made in livestock and sheep

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breeding. The survey is done by the District Office and not completed by the New Year. I have not yet found a suitable way to send you the cheeses. Frequent rains at the end of November made for favourable weather in the region, and winter seeding was done. This allowed the seed to germinate even though the season was well along. One fut of loose snow on 8 December made for difficult sledding. The eastern part of our district had a great snow storm of several days’ duration that piled up drifts the size of a house. There were three fut of snow on the open steppe to the east of us, but most of this has now disappeared. The temperature dropped to fifteen below zero for a few days and seventeen for one day. Otherwise it has been mild. The cattle plague still rages among the Nogai and Molokans and in a few Russian villages. Sheep are doing better this year, although there are places where liver rot has caused many deaths. 264. Johann Cornies to Civil Governor Muromtsev. 15 February 1840. SOAR 89-1-647/16. Civil Governor Murmotsev in Simferopol, Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, I am privileged to answer Yr. Excellency’s esteemed communication. It is not possible to obtain two wagons to transport hay and grain for the same price as those constructed for His Highness Count Vorontsov two years ago. Everything has meanwhile become more expensive, especially iron. I have asked our best wheelwrights and blacksmiths to quote me prices for a wagon that could bear a load of 150 to 160 puds. They have responded as follows. The wheelwright would charge sixty rubles for work on the wheels and undercarriage, and the blacksmith [would charge] 180 rubles, for a total of 240 rubles. Ladders and other fittings produced by the wheelwright would cost an additional twenty rubles. Painting the wagon with oil paint, which is especially necessary, costs ten rubles. The cost of each wagon with complete fittings, capable of carrying a load of 150 to 160 puds would total 270 rubles. Both could be manufactured and ready for delivery by 15 May 1840. Should this price be acceptable, please inform me as soon as possible. The craftsmen could then be advanced down payments and the wagons would be completed by an agreed-upon date. Will the wagons be drawn by horses or by oxen? This information is needed to arrange the shafts.

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Yr. Excellency can buy from me as many trees as you desire of all varieties listed in the enclosed catalogue. However, by St. Germain’s Day [28 May] only about one hundred of the one-to-three year exceptionally well-developed saplings will be available. A further several hundred one-, two-, and three-year-old saplings of each variety will also be available, all growing well with substantial stems. My price is the same for all ages of trees, fifteen silver kopeks each. If Yr. Excellency should wish to buy trees from my nurseries, I request that you kindly inform me in good time about the quantity and varieties, so that I can mark them in the nurseries and keep them for you. At the same time, I promise that they will be available promptly. It would be desirable to have them picked up as soon as possible when spring arrives. With exceptional devotion and respect, I endeavour to remain Yr. Excellency’s willing servant, Johann Cornies. 265. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 6 February 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/17v.3 Mr. Keppen, Yr. Honour, State Counsellor, I was pleased to receive your esteemed communication of 8 January 1840 and thank you for your gracious good wishes for this coming year and for the printed reports you sent. It gives me pleasure, worthy State Counsellor, to convey my most sincere and heartfelt good wishes to you on assuming a position that will open up an attractive new sphere of influence for you. May your philanthropic intentions be honestly recognized and actively promoted by all noble persons. May providence grant you enduring good health to fulfil your high calling in advancing the well-being of the state, and bless you with life’s greatest pleasures. These are the simple wishes and the solemn testimonial of a man who loves you honestly and values you greatly.

3

Keppen enlisted Cornies’ help to collect detailed environmental data for the Molochnaia region, a project that continued into the 1850s. See TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 265, 279, 324, 423, 499, 513, 555, 556, 574, 576; “Niederschlag der Regen und Schneemenge jahrliche,” SAOR 796 (1855); “Mittlern Temperatur in der Molotschna Mennoniten Kolonie Ohrloff,” SAOR 795 (1855); and Peter Kőppen, “Űber einige Landes Verhȁltnisse der Gegend zwischen dem Untern Dnjepr und dem Asow’schen Meere,” Beitrȁge zur Kenntniss des Russichen Reiches und der angrȁnzenden Lȁnden Asiens 11 (1845): 3–86.

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In accordance with your directive for next summer, I am prepared to institute weather observations, to measure the temperature in wells, and to set aside three square sazhen of land to accomplish this. However, with the exception of ordinary Reaumur thermometers, none of the instruments required are available here. I enclose 300 rubles with the request that you kindly use this money to have the required instruments prepared. Also, please teach us how to use them. I think three rain measuring devices would be required. I have observed over the years that the Mennonite District has three different climatic zones. If these 300 rubles are insufficient, I will send the required sum when appropriately notified. With all esteem, I endeavour to remain Yr. Honour’s most devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 266. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 6 February 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/18v.4 Mr. Keppen, In regions of West Prussia along the Vistula, from the low-lying areas of Culm to the Frisches Haff, a few hundred Mennonite families live on entailed estates with forty-year leases. Most have prospered and a few can even be called rich. An edict from the king has informed these Mennonites that all entailed estates will cease to exist by 1845 and be incorporated in with the rest of the crown’s estates. As a result, they will have to leave their estates or, remaining on them, make themselves eligible for military service. Caught up in this dilemma, they are exploring where they might go if they were to leave Prussia. Since Russia takes the position that immigration has ceased, some are thinking of boarding ships and going to America. Others have written to make inquiries here, asking if Russia’s Imperial Government might permit them to purchase land with their own means, on specific terms that they would pledge to fulfil to the benefit of the state. Might it be possible to arrange specific terms for these Mennonites that ARE in the state’s interest and lead to the purchase of some of the many noble lands now for sale in the Crimea? This land is almost 4

Regarding the situation in Prussia, see Mark Jantzen, Mennonite German Soldiers: Nation, Religion, and Family in the Prussian East, 1772–1880 (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010), 107–36. Regarding Cornies’ efforts to advise these potential Prussian immigrants, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 266, 323, 324, 361, 392, 422, 447.

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completely unused and lying waste because of the indolence of its residents. I believe that the Mennonites would agree to conditions that would put the land they buy under the crown’s estate administration to be administered according to its rules and also pledge themselves to plant a specified number of desiatinas of land with fruit and forest trees within the first twenty to thirty years of their settlement. Every Mennonite immigrant would be limited to three hundred desiatinas of land, which they could only resell to other Mennonites. Small settlements could thus be formed here and there in the Crimea to serve Crimean inhabitants as examples of active diligence. With your wise insight, esteemed State Counsellor, you will be able to judge how useful these ideas might be. Cornies. 267. Johann Cornies to District Office. 7 February 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/20. District Office at Halbstadt, Since all of my debtors have appeared for an accounting by this date, I would obediently ask the highly respected District Office to call upon the inhabitants listed on the enclosed record to appear without fail by 25 February, either to make a payment or to give an accounting, with a further signed statement of their debt.5 268. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 8 February 1840. SAOR 89-1-658/2. From the Superintendant of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, Baron Rosen. Mr. Cornies, The Ministry of State Domains carefully observes the progress being made by state peasants in all branches of agriculture and uses every opportunity to promote, encourage, and support developments that can arise from the work of its inhabitants. These provide security both for the agriculturalist and the state. In accordance with the benevolent government’s views, my endeavours on behalf of the state peasants entrusted to me in this guberniia have been to improve their economic situation through orderly and

5

The list of debtors is not extant.

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advantageous agricultural practices. Although state support is occasionally necessary, good examples of enterprise are often most useful among inexperienced and neglectful agriculturalists. I have had the opportunity to convince myself of this truth while travelling around your neighbourhood in the Melitopol District, specifically among the Nogais, a people living in ignorance and far removed from any culture. Since your undoubtedly praiseworthy and exemplary arrangements and establishments have been developed in a practical and economical manner, they must have been a useful example for your neighbours. I am also well aware that you have encouraged your neighbours, offered them guidance, and afforded them every manner of help. As a result, I ask you, Mr. Cornies, to respond to the following questions. 1. How was it possible to make these people willing to change from their accustomed practices to a better method of agriculture? 2. How did Ali Pasha begin his plantation and continue to plant it? What kind of zeal did he display? How much did he achieve and in what time period? Did he make an impression on his comrades? In what way? Please provide an accurate general description of the way Ali Pasha proceeded with his undertaking, whether he encountered obstacles, how he overcame them, and anything else occurring in this process. 3. What are the origins of the little village of Akkerman, built according to European guidelines? What methods did you, in this instance, apply to motivate these people to decide [to settle in this way]?6 I intend to present your accurate and detailed replies to these questions to the Ministry of State Domains, so that, with its benevolent intentions on behalf of the state peasantry, it might use its economic newspaper to publicize the investigations and practices useful to villagers. Accordingly, you would oblige me greatly if, in future, you would from time to time inform me about the step-by-step progress made by state peasants and about their useful undertakings in agriculture. Kindly name those who should receive recognition for their improvements in branches of agriculture. Include any who show understanding and a desire to undertake useful enterprises and make improvements on their establishments, even if they have not yet attempted to do anything because of outside obstacles or indecision. 6

Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, note 12 and docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610.

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Because of my special interest in this matter, I would encourage you to give me special help in my undertaking. You have shown understanding and insight into the importance of improving agriculture. I am confident in advance that I will satisfactorily reach my purposes through you. Baron F. Rosen. 269. Johann Cornies to Gerhard Dueck. 8 February 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/20. Mr. Gerhard Dueck in Rudnerweide. Dear friend, I received your letter of 11 January 1840 and read about your concerns. First, there is the matter of selling the cottager lot. It must be understood that if the former owner of your hearth site kept the lot in reserve for his lifetime, and if a document exists to establish the accuracy of this, then it really should be kept in reserve for him as long as he lives. It does not matter whether Goerz uses the cottager lot himself or not unless the contract stipulates that he should build on it and live there. The village community is also required to be satisfied with this. On the second matter, your good friends who repeated my remarks about you reported them truthfully. My remarks about your circumstances were favourable. I affectionately wish you all positive support to enable your existence to become more secure, as I wish this for everyone in need of such wishes. I am prepared to support everyone with advice to the extent of my abilities. However, if your friends gave you hopes of borrowing 2000 rubles, as you suggest in your letter, they did not understand me correctly. This was also the reason I was so surprised that you immediately requested a loan from me when I visited your home last summer. Dear friend, we cannot allow ourselves to assume that we can take giant steps forward. All our powers are insufficient for this. Our region is too young, too sparsely populated, and too unenlightened to make it possible to carry out extraordinary things. We must cut our coat according to the cloth available. We should adjust our efforts and industry appropriately to time and circumstance, and remain contented even when the progress we make is not huge. This should be understood. A small piece of bread consumed under one’s own roof is worth much more than a whole loaf under someone else’s. Eventually the

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creditor must be repaid, something the debtor must naturally consider in advance. I do not know your circumstances exactly, but I do know that to do improved winter feeding in a barn, more human hands are needed than are usually available here. They are expensive and all the agricultural buildings must be suitably arranged. Where could your agricultural machinery be stored? Also, of how much use is a pearl barley mill here? It would not cover the interest charges. It might be possible to spend one’s own money on experimenting with such an installation but it seems too risky to borrow money for this purpose, basing it on hopes for good luck. This is the reason I am not inclined to provide you with an advance. On the third matter, perhaps the Chief Curator forgot to pass along the letter and package to Baron Frank in Odessa. One cannot be offended if the old gentleman, with his many business affairs and his physical suffering, neglects private matters he undertook with his best intentions. I cannot tell you how to have your drawings returned. The General is not in Odessa, but on a charitable journey. It is no longer fashionable to obtain money from gentlemen as promptly as you think you should be able to get it from Baron Frank. I doubt if you will be able to obtain anything more than the contract you now have in your hands, since you let these things leave your possession without first getting the money. The Baron is involved in important business matters, and cannot pay attention to small ones like yours. I wish you the best of success, but I request that you show moderation in all matters. If, from among all the things you consider to be necessary, you wisely select those most necessary for your situation, matters, dear friend, will improve shortly. Should I have brought discredit on you with my words, I kindly request that you forgive me. With polite greetings to you and your dear family, I remain your friend, Johann Cornies. 270. Johann Cornies to District Office. 20 February 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/26v. District Office in Halbstadt, On 16 September 1839, master smith Johann Schulz in Sparrau borrowed 1001 rubles from me for two months for a transaction involving iron. He was not in a position to pay at the set time and his signed

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record was extended to 1 January 1840. He did not appear to pay his debt even at this date, and I gave him a written extension until 1 February, warning him that I would not hesitate to report him to the appropriate authority if he did not appear. Since Schulz has not appeared by this time, I obediently request that the highly honoured District Office take the necessary measures to ensure that the above-mentioned Schulz appear before me by 1 March without fail to pay his debt. 271. Rempel to Johann Cornies. 20 February 1840. SAOR 89-1-623/25. Very esteemed friend, The Altonau Village Office indicated to me that, on District Office orders, I am to appear before you by 25 February to settle the debt I owe you. Recently I sent a petition to the District Office requesting that it collect my claim against a debtor of mine. Please inform my son about the sum I owe you. I will then ask the District Office to settle your claim from the proceeds of the claim they are collecting for me. I return my most obliging thanks for the patience you have shown me and hope very much that the settlement of this matter may follow soon. Your obligated Rempel. 272. Forestry Society to D.istrict Office. 23 February 1840. SAOR 89-1-646/16. To the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, From the Society for the Advancement of Forest-tree and Orchard Cultivation, Sericulture, and Viticulture, In response to your communication No. 77 of 3 February, the new immigrant, the Mennonite Gerhard Neufeldt, Rudnerweide village, was read all pertinent rules relating to tree planting in the local District. Now, with a signed undertaking, he has bound himself to carry out promptly, to the extent possible, everything the Society ordered in the past and will order in future, according to its rules and organization. He has taken over the fullholding number twelve from Johann Sudermann, Mennonite of the same village. This signed obligation was properly entered as number nine in the Society’s record journal. The District Office is hereby notified accordingly to enable it to make further arrangements.

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273. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 1 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/28v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Yesterday, from the Novoaleksandrovka post office, I received the account of sale and remainder of your payment for wool sent to you on consignment last year. Enclosed is a general receipt.7 I am completely satisfied and thank you for your kind efforts on my behalf. I would ask you to sell my wool again this year. Winter continues but fodder shortages are occurring in only a few individual spots. Sheep, on the other hand, are still dying in considerable numbers. Sheep will generally produce little wool in most areas. The extravagance of keeping unreasonably large numbers of sheep has passed. People have generally become convinced that it is necessary to treat sheep differently if sheep raising is to remain profitable. Even though I have suffered no losses among my own sheep, I have nevertheless introduced a totally different method of caring for them last fall that would improve and strengthen the quality of their wool. My purpose is to provide the sheep with a better life that would enable them to develop properly and produce a much higher yield of wool. This approach cannot be imitated by everyone who is simply thinking of keeping sheep. Mr. Fadeev, our friend in common, is now Director of the Finance Bureau in Saratov. As you know, I am pleased to think that Sarepta will consider him a great support in economic matters once they have learned to understand him. So far, I have heard nothing from Sarepta. Thank God that we are all healthy, which we wish you and your dear family. I commend myself to you as your faithfully united friend and servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. I would also like to request a volume of the Halle Allgemeine Landwirtschaftliche Zeitung (Halle General Agricultural Newspaper) for the year 1839. Also, please purchase for me a magnifying glass that can enlarge objects close to the eyes and can be carried on one’s person.

7 A copy of a receipt for 35,165 rubles for 748 puds of wool appears as the following document: 89-1-647/33.

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274. Johann Klassen to Johann Cornies. 4 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-623/39.8 Mr. Johann Cornies, most worthy friend, When I visited you almost three weeks ago, you were kind enough to promise me definite news within four or five days. I have, however, heard nothing yet, which arouses my suspicions. During this time I could have acquired five to ten thousand rubles and begged for voluntary contributions. Spring is on the doorstep. I expect to receive detailed information from you and sign myself, with the kindest greeting, as your devoted friend, Johann Klassen. 275. District Office to Johann and David Cornies. 4 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-623/40. To Johann and David Cornies in Ohrloff, According to Inspector Pelekh, you have living on your sheepfarm a Russian crown settler called Stephan Barde. If he should be in your service, send him to this District Office as quickly as possible so that he can be sent to his place of residence to pay his crown debts. District Office in Halbstadt, 4 March 1840. District Chairman Regier. Message 13 March 1840 to District Secretary Reimer. 276. Johann Cornies to Johann Klassen. 5 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/31.9 To Johann Klassen in Halbstadt, Dear friend, In response to your letter of 4 March letter, I send the following reply. I promised you that the Society would meet in four or five days’ time and that I would speak with the District Chairman and the Society’s members about your affairs in the manner that you and I discussed. Since my intentions towards you were honest, I did not neglect to do so. I thought I was advising you to promote your own best interests since I am not, in any way, indifferent to your fate. I could not foresee that

8 9

Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710. Ibid.

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you would accuse me of having caused you a loss of five to ten thousand rubles, as you believe. I asked the District Chairman to discuss the details with you. He was feeling ill at the time and had to go directly to Schoensee from the meeting. However, he promised that he would speak to you when he got to Halbstadt. I did not concern myself with the matter further, or whether you had submitted a written explanation to the District Office or the Commission that would have warranted a meeting of the creditors. The purpose of the Society’s meeting, however, was not to discuss your affairs and to make decisions accordingly. This is a subject for the District Office and the Commission, which are obligated to do so by the Guardianship Committee’s confirmation in this matter. You are quite mistaken to think that I am personally obligated to give you a prompt and thorough explanation. Since I hear almost every day from all sides that you mistrust the Commission, I am not at all surprised that your suspicions are easily aroused in such matters, and now involve me too. I am, however, sorry that the attitude you harbour seems to be unrealistic. Despite all of this, I honestly wish you the best from the bottom of my heart, and therefore greet you as a friend, Johann Cornies. 277. Johann Cornies to Johann Penner. 6 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/32v. Johann Penner in Pastwa, dear friend, Although I am unable to tell you definitely what limits foreigners face who wish to buy noble lands in Russia, I do know that they cannot be admitted into the category of colonists if they wish to be registered here. They assume the same position as the category of free people who do not receive special rights such as those we enjoy. We are under the administration of a Guardianship Committee that exists exclusively for the administration of [foreign] settlers in southern Russia. The former, however, are individuals under the general administration. This is the main reason for questioning the advisability of Mennonites moving to Russia in this way. I would give your relatives and friends in Prussia the following advice. If they are really in such a difficult situation in Prussia that they must fear for the loss of their freedom of conscience, and are consequently forced to emigrate, they should select several able men from their midst to be sent here this summer. The group could then make preliminary inquiries with the local government about the details of

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their acceptance in Russia, and learn about the terms of the Russian state for their purchase of land in the Empire. They would further have an opportunity to inspect the noble lands for sale in the Crimea, and convince themselves of their quality. Recently, I was offered several such estates of 1500 to 2500 desiatinas in that area at very low prices. I am prepared to give you my best advice in this matter. Your friends and relatives will never accomplish their purpose by writing back and forth. All speculation by local relatives and acquaintances will not enlighten our Prussian brethren about Russia’s imperial constitution. It will confuse them instead. Most Mennonites here do not even possess an accurate knowledge of their own colonial administration, under whose immediate direction they stand. It would thus probably be best if they sent a few intelligent and solid men from their midst into this area. These men could learn directly what is possible and impossible from our philanthropic and honestly concerned state administration. They could familiarize themselves with the laws of the land and the relationships that various estates have to the state itself. I do not know anything more dependable to tell you in this situation. I send you and your family the friendliest greetings and remain, as always, your honest friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 278. Johann Cornies to Andrei Fadeev. 6 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/35. Mr. Fadeev, Before I received Yr. Honour’s letter of 29 December 1839 from Saratov, I read in the newspaper that you had been transferred from Astrakhan to Saratov. I congratulate you, State Counsellor, on your new position. An attractive new sphere of activity has been opened to your talents. With interest, I appreciate the happiness inhabitants there will enjoy under your direction and guardianship. God rewards everything good. He will also grant you the strength and good health to oversee the well-being of so many thousands and crown your efforts with the best of success. The year just past did not see the most favourable harvest locally. Yields were only moderate, indeed quite small, four and three-quarter fold on average. A surplus of almost 12,000 chetvert of wheat were sold at seventeen rubles per chetvert. Quantities of soft grains, oats and barley, were considerable in several villages. Potatoes were less successful and we harvested only a little more than 10,000 chetvert. I believe

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that only slightly more favourable weather right after the seeding could have yielded a crop of more than 25,000 chetvert of potatoes. Flax was more successful and a little more than 1600 puds was broken. As a result some 2620 persons will be occupied this winter with its spinning and weaving. The hay crop was abundant and, despite our long winter, we are feeling no fodder shortages. Despite the cattle plague that raged in eight of our villages, 57,000 rubles worth of butter was produced. Dairying continues to gain ground and is being pursued more efficiently. It almost equals sheep breeding in the clear profit it produces. For example, Blumenort village sold butter for 3327 rubles while its income from wool was a little more than 3500 rubles. The Society is attempting to widen the range of sources for agricultural income to insulate villagers from the economic instability that would follow from unfavourable conditions in one area. This would enable them to maintain their economic situations. At the same time, we are witnessing the awakening of intellectual and physical strength in our community that will lead our inhabitants to happier, quieter lives. In this way we can discover the essence of wisdom that will make our community more healthy, happy, and wealthy. This is more valuable than possessions and material power as evidenced in thousands upon thousands of figures and numbers tabulated in tables and indexes. Khortitsa provides a concrete illustration of what I mean, since sheep raising is its only major branch of economic activity. This has put it so deeply in debt that it will hardly be able to extricate itself from this situation in twenty years’ time unless a better administration is imposed that compels inhabitants to become more industrious and active. Almost all of its private capital has failed along with its sheep raising. In contrast, Molochnaia is flourishing. All crafts are supported as each promotes the other. Both rich and poor inhabitants are in a state of well-being. The habit of active diligence seems to be developing here as individuals strive to distinguish themselves. Each year, villages take initiatives to promote their own beautification through the construction of better, more durable and tastefully designed houses. A total of 137 new buildings were constructed last year, twenty-seven of fired brick. Presently, four brickworks are operating as well as an enterprise that produces Dutch roof tiles and a lime kiln. A further four brickworks will be established this year. The plantations are developing remarkably. Last year an additional 10,744 trees were planted in fruit orchards and preparations have been

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made to plant another 8707 fruit trees. In nurseries we have 78,369 improved fruit trees ready for transplanting and in seed nurseries 281,365 trees. Outsiders bought 1110 rubles 61 kopeks of trees. Enough fruit was sold to earn 5804 rubles, 98 kopeks. Considerable quantities of fruit were also exchanged for millet with the Nogais. Last year, an additional 33,034 trees were planted in the thirty-nine forest-tree plantations. There are now a total of 181,494 forest trees growing in all foresttree plantations. More significant progress each year is visible in the laying out of hedges and in the improvement of forest-tree plantations and fruit orchards. Silk production will soon be worthy of notice. One pud, ten funt, eighteen lot of silk was produced and reeled in our community. We believe that the large demand for silkworm eggs nourishes the hope that interest in silk cultivation as an occupation is rising. The Society does not have enough eggs in stock to satisfy the demand. Field cultivation is advancing annually in its extent and is also being pursued more systematically. Wherever it was conducted in this way, it provided good results that can serve as an example worthy of imitation. For example, in Ohrloff, Altonau, and Muensterberg villages, land cultivation is pursued with more insight. Soils are being improved and the results have been crops of seven times the seed. Some individual fullholders, who were even better at improving the soil, had ten- to twelve-fold yields. Villages and fullholders who treated their soil as a stepchild might receive only a three-fold return or as little as one and three-quarter fold return. The District has a total of seventy-five threshing machines and thirteen chaff cutters driven by horses. The latter have proved themselves exceptionally useful. The sheep breeding cycle has been changed so that sheep now lamb in the middle of February. The lambs thrive and can already graze on the pastures with the old sheep when spring arrives. The earlier lambing results in larger sheep that also produce much more wool. The village of Landskrone, newly founded last year, is a model of beautiful, regularly constructed houses and is superior in its calm, orderly appearance and quiet, industrious diligence. There is a growing desire here to learn skilled trades and the time may not be far off when a tradesman will consider his occupation more successful than that of an agriculturalist. Tradesmen can earn a greal deal of money in summer and winter. With better teachers our schools are making progress. Our people desire and seek improvement, but direction is needed to encourage, support, and give thought to the introduction of improvements.

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The Ohrloff house of worship was built for about 15,000 rubles. It is in the style of the former Ekaterinoslav Bureau building with the difference that the house of worship is much larger, with two storeys and a wooden roof instead of an iron one, though it too is painted grey. As people strive for perfection, there is activity and movement on every side, openly or in seclusion. Our grandchildren will be able to enjoy the goals that their forefathers determined for themselves and set out to reach. They will take pleasure in what we have accomplished and what we have hoped for. We, for our part, can go to our graves with good consciences, joining our forefathers who worked on our behalf. Martens came back from the baths in autumn with broken sails, a hypochondriac to the highest degree. He was dissatisfied with all the doctors there and even seems not to have said his farewells. He is suffering under a heavy load and becoming a great burden to himself and his entire family, who must tend him. He wanted to travel to Karlsbad in spring but his people are now asking me to advise him to return to Piatigorsk. Nothing has yet been decided, but I think that he will undoubtedly go back to the Caucasus. On 20 October 1839 my son and Peter Schmidt’s two sons left for Prussia, travelling with post horses. They are supposed to receive instruction in barn feeding as it is done there during the winter. My affairs continue as before. I feel honoured to be able to report to you that everyone in our household is well. We had lived in the happy anticipation of your proposed visit, as you had kindly informed us. Now, however, with your unexpected transfer, we are in doubt whether we will experience that pleasure. With the appropriate esteem, and the most genuine respect, I remain, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 279. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Schmidt. 9 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/40v.10 To Heinrich Schm[idt], Pastwa, Dear friend, Since you are kindly prepared to make observations of atmospheric temperatures in Pastwa throughout the year, I take the liberty to inform you of major matters you should daily note. 10 Regarding Cornies’ role in collecting environmental data, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 265, 279, 324, 423, 499, 513, 555, 556, 574, 576.

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In addition to the twice-daily observations of the temperature, before sunrise and at two o’clock in the afternoon, please note the occurrence of the following: heavy or light snowfalls; penetrating or gentle rains; violent or weak thunderstorms with violent or little lightning; fog; winds; storms; snowstorms; hoarfrost; glare ice; heavy or light night frosts; heavy or sparse, large or small hail stones; cloudy skies; clear skies; and other natural phenomena. You should also note the beginning and completion dates for ploughing and seeding and the blossoming of apricot, cherry, and apple trees. When did the seeded rye and wheat come up, sprout, and blossom? When did haying begin and end? When did the grain harvesting begin and when was it completed? What progress is to be noted in the development of fruit orchards? For which varieties was the weather good and for which bad? In general, when was the winter grain ploughed in? On how many days were livestock fed in barns? Please omit information about weather occurrences when you are away from home. I would be much obliged to you if you could give me only correct information on the subjects mentioned above Please be brief in making your notes, citing the necessary information in words in the accompanying notebook. You will surely be able to orient yourself in its use. With a friendly greeting, I remain your friend who is willing to be of service, Johann Cornies. 280. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 10 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/41v. His Honour, State Counsellor Steven, The demand for alfalfa seed has grown so quickly that I must again ask Yr. Honour to send me another ten funt. Kindly, if possible, as a special request, also send me some shoots of the beautiful plantain tree in your garden, if this can be done? Our late winter was moderate with some snow, but the soil was moistened to a good depth. Since December the steppe in the eastern part of the District above Steinbach has been covered with one and a half feet of snow and a crust of ice. In villages in that area snowstorms drove ten to fifteen feet of snow into a number of plantations and broke many trees. Winter is now disappearing with rain today. All the ravines are full of running water. No one is suffering fodder shortages despite the long winter. Sheep are in better shape this year, but in many individual

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flocks almost all young sheep died again this winter. From what I have heard, wool prices have fallen. Johann Cornies. 281. Johann Cornies to District Office. 13 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/42. District Office in Halbstadt, In response to communication No. 678 of 4 March, I wish to inform you that Stepan Baran, Russian state peasant from Preobrazhenskoe village, is not living with me or with David Cornies. 282. Johann Cornies to Fedor Rosen. 14 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/42v. His Honour, Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, State Counsellor and Sir, Rosen, From the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Johann Cornies. Reluctantly I must intrude on the time you normally devote to your demanding administrative duties, to inform you of serious matters that touch on the fundamental well-being of the Nogais. They are discussed in a letter from the Nogai District Chairman, Timir Tenbaiev, a copy of which I enclose. Since the Nogais became my neighbours, speculators of various nations and estates have tried to pursue their own advantage, deceiving the Nogais in numerous ways. They oppress their households and incite quarrels and strife among them. Now Berdiansk merchants are travelling around the Nogai district, purchasing wheat that has not yet been grown at a price of nine rubles per chetvert and making advance payments. It is said that one of these merchants has already distributed close to 9000 rubles among the Nogais in this manner. Another is distributing seed wheat on the basis of an agreement that, after the harvest, the Nogai will return two chetvert for every one advanced. If the wheat crop fails, the recipient must pay twenty rubles for each chetvert of seed received. Such premature sales and agreements keep Nogai households in a state of poverty, lead to quarrelling and strife, and ruin their character. These agreements can achieve nothing worthwhile. The Nogais generally still find it difficult to keep their word in a timely manner. Also, very few speculators who have entered into such agreements with the

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Nogais to deliver wheat not yet sown are accurately measuring the seed dispersed at the time of delivery. They intend to cheat the Nogais in this way. It is highly desirable that such purchases by the Nogais be prohibited and that the Nogais be ordered to return money advanced by the merchants. No complaints should be accepted from either side. This would serve as a warning for both the Nogais and the merchants. Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee, Johann Cornies. 283. Johann Cornies to Daniel Doehring. 22 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/45. Mr. Doehring in Sarepta, I received your dear letter of 22 February 1840 on 18 March. Its interesting contents pleased me, especially since you are all reportedly well. Our winter was a long one as well, but the cold was not particularly severe. Fodder was in short supply in only a few places in the surrounding region. Cattle plague caused great devastation among cattle in Russian and Tatar villages and still continues there. It also raged in seven villages in our district. The others protected themselves by guarding their livestock and blockading their villages in the manner that I have described to you. As a result, the cattle plague was banished from our district by the New Year. I am very pleased that your sheep and cows are progressing as well as one could wish. Almost a thousand sheep in my herds have already lambed. If you can arrange to have your sheep begin to lamb by 15 February in future, I advise you to do so. The rams are then admitted to the sheep for breeding on 15 September. Warm stabling and good fodder that increases milk production are required for this method. However, early lambs amply make up for the costs. It might be possible for me to visit Sarepta soon again and then I can personally tell you many useful things about improvements in livestock breeding that would be of advantage to you, something I cannot possibly do by letter. As promised, you will receive the accompanying six small staghorn sumach trees, ten ashes, and eighteen cuttings of mock willow. They should be planted deep into the soil so that only two eyes remain above the earth. If the soil is not moist, these cuttings must be watered from time to time to keep the soil somewhat moist. They take root easily and

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grow well. Should the shoots and the roots of the small trees be a little dry by the time they arrive, place them in river water the night before they are to be planted, and then plant them immediately. I hope they all take well. I am pleased that Mr. Fadeev is now Director of the Bureau of State Domains in your guberniia. Here, it has not yet been possible to decide about rebuilding the cloth factory destroyed by fire.11 There is no doubt that it will be rebuilt, but who will do this has not yet been decided. We are expecting my son to return [from W. Prussia] by 20 April. The prices of wheat and various other grains have fallen and we have little trade in grain. However, land prices are rising constantly. There is little demand for sheep, although ten to twelve rubles are still paid for ewes. On the other hand, horses and cows are in demand and prices for them are good. Sericulture is increasing and people are beginning to grow tobacco. Please give all my good friends there a thousand heartfelt and sincere greetings and tell them of my love. I, my wife, daughter and our whole household are healthy, thank God. We wish you and your dear family the same. With friendly and sincere greetings from me, my dear wife and daughter to you and your loved ones, I remain, as always, your friend and servant who is willing to be of service, Johann Cornies. 284. Johann Cornies to State Counsellor [unknown]. 22 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/47v. Honoured State Counsellor, I have the honour of sending you not one but two maps of the Molochnaia [German] colonist district in response to your wishes. Here one of these maps costs seventy-five kopeks silver. Using a lead pencil, I found it necessary to mark on the maps: the location of the neighbouring villages, the Tokmak mogila [burial mound], the [German] colonist village Kronsfeldt which is not given on the map but has been in existence for a long time, and the Mennonite village of Landskrone established in the year 1839. The weather here is warm and very fruitful and the seeding of summer crops started today. May God give his blessing that they will thrive. 11 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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With the appropriate esteem and respect, I remain Yr. Honour’s willing servant, Johann Cornies. 285. Johann Cornies to District Office. 26 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/48. District Office in Halbstadt, According to the enclosed announcement, three estates are for sale in the Crimea. I humbly request the honourable District Office to publicize this matter in our District. Johann Cornies. 286. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 27 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/48v. Mr. Steven, Since I have found a good opportunity to send you the cheese, I also take the liberty to include a little barrel of butter. Please, Mr. State Counsellor, be so kind as to accept it. With our great abundance of butter, such a small quantity is of no consequence for us. Your cows may well not be giving milk yet and it is possible that, before the holidays, a little butter for your kitchen might be welcomed by your most worthy and esteemed wife. The two cheeses sent with this transport and the one I sent earlier by mail weigh a total of thirty-six funt. At thirty-five kopeks per funt this makes twelve rubles, sixty kopeks. Please apply this amount to my account for alfalfa seed. No freight charges should be paid for the cheese or the butter. With esteem and devotion, I remain Yr. Honour’s devoted and ready servant, Johann Cornies. 287. District Office to Johann Cornies. 29 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-623/58. To esteemed Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, According to directive No. 1816 of 15 November 1839 from Inspector Pelekh, you are hereby informed that, in future, you should send the land taxes due on your own land directly to the revenue bureau. District Office in Halbstadt, 29 March 1840. District Deputy Chairman Braun, Secretary D. Hamm.

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288. Friedrich Fein to Johann Cornies. 30 March 1840. SAOR 89-1-623/62.12 Treasured Mr. Cornies, Please do not take offence when I venture to burden you with a request. You would do me a great favour, and someone else as well, if you could lend me five to six thousand rubles for a short time determined by you. I will discuss the applicable interest rate with you. Should you be so kind as to consider my request please inform this messenger of a time when I might drop by. With hope, I have the honour to be your devoted servant, Friedrich Fein. 30 March 1840. Another letter is enclosed [not extant]. 289. District Office to Dirk Wiens. 3 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-623/68. To the manager of Iushanle estate, Dirk Wiens, You are hereby required by this District Office to give the bearer, for his own needs, the dark brown mare found on the Iushanle estate and to notify the Office accordingly. District Office in Halbstadt, 3 April 1840. District Deputy Chairman Braun, Secretary Somerfeld [Marked] The mare died during the winter and, because it was frozen, was buried with its hide. 290. Johann Cornies to Friedrich Fein. 4 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/50v. Most worthy Mr. Fein, I was away from home when your letter arrived. Tomorrow, Friday, I am at your service and will lend you the desired sum of money. I cannot, however, agree to a repayment term of more than two months. Your servant commends himself with respect, Johann Cornies.

12 Friedrich Fein, a German colonist, was one of the largest landowners and wealthiest men in New Russia. Included in his holdings was the 5,900-hectare Elisabethfeld estate near Cornies’ Taschenak estate. See Myeshkov, Die Schwarzmeerdeutschen, 75–6.

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291. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 4 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/49v. Mr. State Counsellor Steven, On 3 April I received your esteemed communication of 18 March. Please accept my family’s most obliging thanks for the flower seeds. They have given us much pleasure. If you can, please send us some stock seeds as well. I gladly accept your offer that we conduct a trial with timothy grass on our land. Please send us as much of this seed as you can spare. The weather continues to be cold, under a cloudy sky, with snow and north winds yesterday and the day before yesterday. Seeding is proceeding slowly because the soil is very wet. The grass is not sprouting. With complete esteem and constant devotion, I remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 292. David [Wiens] to Johann Cornies. 8 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/16. Well respected Johann Cornies, In 1837, I took receipt of fifty-one or fifty-two tree gardening books by Khrist and several schoolbooks from the esteemed Jacob Wiebe in Neuteich, Kingdom of Prussia that I delivered to you. You were to pay me the freight charges. This has not yet been done. I delivered the books to you through my brother-in-law Jakob Loewen in Ohrloff. I know that you have received the books because every village already has a copy on hand. Please notify me when I will receive the freight charges owing. Your servant, David [Wiens]. 293. Johann Klassen to Johann Cornies. 10 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/20.13 To Chairman Johann Cornies of the Garden Society, Request from Johann Klassen, Halbstadt. We cannot obtain concrete information about the factory business from anyone. As a result, the master craftsman, several good cloth 13 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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weavers, and various workers with families here on passes will be leaving after Easter or, at the latest, immediately following the Prischinger market. This development would make it most difficult to begin work in a new factory again. Please put your faith in my twenty-four years of experience. The factory cannot function without energetic, knowledgeable people, who are more indispensible than the entire capital fund. With such people the factory would soon be earning income. With inexperienced workers, on the other hand, the capital fund could easily be lost. I have learned this lesson from sad experience that determined my previous fate. I do not want to begin a second time with entirely unknowlegeable people because people as useful as the ones I now have cannot be found so easily. The business can naturally not be started without money, but the community is prepared to help. It stands to lose a developed concern that belonged to an unhappy family that has lost everything. Since the situation can be improved with several thousand rubles, why would these monies not be granted? Why can we not meet to discuss this whole matter together, as I requested at the beginning, and now repeat? My hard-pressed family would, in this way, be served without being plunged into extreme debt. Please put yourself in our position and ease our situation with a friendly discussion and some words of consolation or encouragement. All the leaders and the greater part of this community would like us to restart the business ourselves. The sooner it can be restarted, the sooner we can eradicate new debts and repay old creditors. We will gladly accept all good advice and submit ourselves to conditions. I believe that the one thing required is a definite plan, and I urgently request definite information. I am tired of such a life and this uncertainty. If we cannot reach a conclusion in this matter, and the workers are let go, the whole matter must be abandoned. I again commend myself to your kindness and generosity and sign myself with respect as your devoted, Johann Klassen. 294. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 12 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/51. State Counsellor Steven, Please forgive me, State Counsellor, that in sending you my 1839 report about the Molochnaia Mennonite District, I did not add my wish

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that the report, if you think this appropriate, should be forwarded to the esteemed Ministry. Thank you for the 1839 leaflet about the teaching of sericulture. I request that twenty to thirty copies, if possible, be ordered for our local inhabitants, at cost. With complete esteem and respect, I remain Yr. Honour’s most devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 295. Johann Cornies to Johann Klassen. 12 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/51v.14 Johann Klassen in Halbstadt, Dear friend, If all Elders and the largest part of the community want you to restart your business and if they wish to assist you in this matter then give the Commission a written declaration stating the date on which you intend to begin again and also when you will complete the repayment of the debt you owe your creditors. Naturally, the creditors should then be called together so that they can be informed of your declaration. If they agree, a legal document should be drawn up. However, if they do not agree to all or to some of the details, then they are required to negotiate with you and you must deal with them through the Commission. If agreement is reached, then the matter will be concluded. If no agreement is reached the matter must be submitted to the Guardianship Committee for a decision without delay. It does seem to me that things of such importance cannot be regulated in any simpler way. Otherwise, there could be considerable unpleasantness or even legal proceedings. A large sum of money is involved in this matter and there are many interested parties who would prefer to gain something and not sustain a loss. They also have a right to make their claims. These aspects should be considered before a decision is made to agree with an adviser who wishes to gain more than he intends to lose. I cannot tell you anything more definite because I am not authorized to do so. I request that in future you not demand of me that I should determine something concerning this business. With a greeting, I remain your friend, Johann Cornies.

14 Ibid.

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296. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 14 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-661/2. My dear and most valued Cornies, It gave me the greatest pleasure to receive your letter of 9 June. It was your first letter to me in Saratov and I was in doubt whether your sentiments towards me might have altered after my transfer from Astrakhan. Believe me my friend, if it depended on me, I would return to New Russia and deal only with your good Mennonites. The administration, however, acts according to its own purposes and not our wishes. It is difficult where 320,000 peasants left to themselves are supposed to develop until they have reached a human condition. Equally, 100,000 souls are to be received and settled, all within a few years. About the same number of German colonists will soon be under my administrative jurisdiction. These are the challenges I face. I will do what I can but God’s will be done. My conscience will comfort me and the Almighty support me. I much appreciated your interesting description of present conditions among your brethren. I have passed it on to a few well-intentioned settlers. These people really need such instruction. The old sleepy and humdrum way is deeply rooted here and the upshot is two extremes, people who are either very rich or really poor. In my opinion, it would be best for Martens to travel to Piatigorsk instead of to Carlsbad, but only in spring and not in fall. Give him my greetings and tell him that I heartily wish him a full recovery. Because of the circumstances mentioned above, it is quite impossible for me to visit you this year. May God grant that this can be accomplished next year. Otherwise I fear my estate near Odessa will fall into complete ruin. The Tsar has given me 1550 desiatinas of land here but I am not thinking of establishing myself in this area. The climate is far too severe for my sick wife and my inclination will always call me back to New Russia, if only for burial. I hear from Petersburg that they will send me your proposal for the establishment of a craftsmen’s colony in Molochnaia.15 I am to review it. Were this really to happen, please send me your honest thoughts on the subject. Stay well and remain active in support of the well-being of all your brethren. Our heartfelt greetings. A. Fadeev. 15 Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 10, and docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499.

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297. Aron Rempel to Johann Cornies. 14 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/22. Valued friend, The accompanying small bag contains the beet-root seeds you asked for. I cannot serve you with more at this time. If you can make do with ordinary beet seeds in the meantime (which can yield as much as the former), I have enough for you. I have also seed for the best sugar-beets in Prussia. These I will send along in future. With heartfelt greetings, I remain your friend, Aron Rempel. 298. Johann Goertz to Johann Cornies. 16 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/24. Esteemed Mr. Cornies, I send you the enclosed grass seed from Prussia, specifically French grass and Diesenschwingel grass. These varieties are said to be suited to our weather, although the soil must be well cultivated, well fertilized, and friable. The grasses should thrive not only in lowlands but on the high steppe. I send you obedient greetings and call myself your friend, Johann Goertz, Schardau. 299. Cornelius Wall to Johann Cornies. 21 April 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/27. Most esteemed Mr. Cornies, Our local Wool Improvement Society should long ago have responded to the Society for the Dissemination of Plantings in regard to plantings of trees along the banks of the Kurushan [stream]. Since this is an important subject, the meeting decided to plant trees along its banks over a period of ten years. Our formal response will be delayed until the next meeting when we can consider the matter again. I am involved in this work, and am convinced that it can be completed in four, not ten years. I will try to have this matter confirmed at the next meeting and then report the decision to the Society for the Dissemination of Plantings. Please do not be offended if I raise a further issue. I would be grateful if you could speak to the carters from Veselov again to ensure that when you hire them to transport your wool to Moscow they also agree to

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take the community’s wool. It should not exceed 300 puds. Lambing is proceeding with such difficulty that I am almost in despair, but I hope that more shelter should create a more favourable situation in future. With a friendly greeting, I am your devoted Cornelius Wall. Community sheepfarm. 21 April 1840. 300. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 1 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/52v.16 His Honour, State Counsellor Steven, Enclosed, I send the original of a letter from the previously mentioned two Molokans, Andreev and Voroshchev, who are determined to establish a tree nursery in Novovasilievka. Please excuse me for bringing this matter to your attention, but huge obstacles to tree planting exist among the Molokans and others, many of whom would rather follow bad examples than good ones. Another matter is the craftiness with which part of the village community of Novovasilievka gets around administrative orders. The District secretary, Stoialov, is the principal leader of these intrigues and naturally knows who his supporters are. The above-mentioned Molokans are in great difficulty, not only because they are frustrated in their efforts to lay out an orderly garden, but because a large portion of the community curses them as iconoclasts, and tries, at every opportunity, to abuse them in the most vulgar and degrading manner. If authorities do not address this matter strongly and with great severity, both Molokans will loose heart. Should this happen a desire to establish tree plantations will not soon again see the light of day. With all esteem, etc. Johann Cornies. 301. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 1 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/53v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I received your valued communication of 1 April today and hasten to report that I am prepared to make a cash advance for the purchase of 800 puds of wool for you here, as I have in the past. No news about wool prices is available at this time. Sheep breeding has decreased to an astonishing degree and the smaller number of sheep still alive will 16 Regarding the efforts of the Molokans Andreev and Voroshchev to establish a tree nursery, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 263, 300, 333, 360, 466.

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produce little wool. I would have preferred if you had quoted me a price as a guideline, but since this is not the case, I will deal with the matter to your advantage as best I can. I would like to have a specified account for the silk as soon as possible. The silk producers do not wish to wait and the Society can make the payments as soon as it gets the account. We would also like to know whether our silk should be reeled thicker, or finer, and how it can be improved to achieve the best price possible. Sericulture is being accepted widely, but is still in its infancy. We seek every possible means to establish it on a more secure and enduring footing. Praise God, we are all quite healthy and well. My son is not yet home and we wait impatiently for his arrival. My business affairs threaten to overwhelm me and I urgently need his help. Johann Cornies. 302. Johann Cornies to [C. Steven]. 6 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/55v. His Honour, State Counsellor, On 3 May I received the ten funt of alfalfa seed you kindly sent me by mail. Many thanks. What is the price? The continuing cold and wet weather has impeded the seeding of grain. The grass is growing feebly but the planted seeds came up strongly despite the bad weather. Winter grain suffered much and several fields had to be ploughed under. Many fields, however, are in moderately good shape and I hope we will not have to purchase any bread grains. Apricot trees began to blossom weakly on 29 April, but the other trees still lack blossoms. The first warm and quiet days started on May 2 and it is now clear that everything is coming up and we may well have a good year for grain and fruits. Even the grass is shooting up. I have had to keep to my bed for the last few days, but the illness is fleeting. My son returned from abroad on 2 May. Wool prices have been falling and reports from Moscow are of price drops for wool and silk. With exceptional esteem etc. Johann Cornies. 303. Johann Cornies to Kaull. 6 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/54v. Most valued Mr. Kaull, I have no knowledge about the transaction with Denser and Sommerfeldt and whether the rams purchased from the Anhalt-Cotta flock

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came from there or elsewhere. I have no information nor names of people who were supposedly eyewitnesses. By coincidence, when Mr. Tietzman visited from Askanianova, he told me that Sommerfeldt was reputedly a swindler involved in illegal transactions. Generally, however, he is considered to be an upright and truthful German. It was in this sense that I mentioned the matter in the presence of your esteemed brother. Just as I was writing this letter, a neighbour in the region of the Anhalt-Cotta settlement visited me and explained matters in greater detail. He rejects the idea that Denser and Sommerfeldt purchased 300 rams, perhaps even a few more, from the Anhalt-Cotta administration. He cannot believe that Denser would have added rams from his own herd since he had already sold all his sheep to a nobleman. My informant arrived at the Anhalt-Cotta settlement the day after the sheep had been delivered, but was not present at the actual delivery. I would describe this man, Carl Mathias, as someone who loves the truth. He is a colonist who leases about 10,000 desiatinas of land and manages it well. Having known him for a number of years, I can give you this testimonial. With respect, your humble servant, Johann Cornies. 304. Johann Cornies to District Office. 12 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/57. To the District Office in Halbstadt, Today, 12 May, Luka Maloi, head shepherd for the Chernigovka settlers, reported to me that when he was away from his home area, the shepherds discovered a fresh grave on the crown steppe, hard by the Bakhmut Chumak road and near a small mogila approximately one versta from my khutor in the Arrap. They examined it with a stick and noticed a human face at an approximate depth of three-quarters of an arshin. 305. Johann Cornies to Johann Wiebe. 17 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/57v. In response to my direction, the merchant, Mr. Johann Wiebe in Neuteich, is requested to pay the bearer of this, Mr. David Schellenberg from here, four hundred Prussian thalers. Mr. Schellenberg has been authorized to receive an inheritance for me in Prussia. When he does so he must transfer the money to my account, interest included. Johann Cornies.

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306. District Office to Johann Cornies. 18 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-623/106. To the authorized representative for the survey and settlement of land in the Molochnaia Mennonite District, Honourable Johann Cornies at Ohrloff, In [notice] No. 721, Inspector Pelekh informed this District Office on 16 May that he had made representations to the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in South Russia regarding the survey of the boundaries of land assigned to the villages Sparrau, Conteniusfeld, Gnadenfeld, Waldheim, and Landskrone. In response, the Committee informed him that the district surveyor cannot be assigned to surveying the present boundaries of the above-mentioned villages. He has been assigned various other surveying projects, which he can hardly complete by autumn. Pelekh was asked to invite the Uezd surveyor to determine the boundaries of the above-mentioned villages. The Inspector therefore turned to Mr. Tushchevskii, requesting him to carry out the mentioned land surveys. The District Office hereby informs you that these village offices have been sent instructions in this regard. You might notify the District Office as soon as possible about the arrangements you must make in this matter. District Office at Halbstadt, 18 May 1840. District Deputy Braun. Answered 19 May 1840. 307. Johann Cornies to District Office. 19 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/58v. In response to communication No. 1588 of 18 May from the District Office, I have the honour to report that I gave up my position as authorized representative for settlement and surveying land in the Molochnaia Mennonite District in 1827 and therefore can no longer accept commissions of this kind. My advice would be not to hire the Uezd surveyor Mr. Tushchevskii to survey and establish boundaries for the villages in question. His work could well lead to confusion. It would be better if the District Office were to propose that not Tushchveskii but Mr. Ortchininov of the Tavrida financial bureau be commissioned to undertake this matter. He is generally well known for accuracy and dependability in such matters, and does not pursue his own interests.

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308. Johann Cornies to Lange. 20 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/60v. Mr. Lange in Steinbach, Thank you for your kind communication about the written answer from Mr. Keppen. I am pleased that you did not misunderstand his honest sincerity, compassion, and stern sense of justice. You are quite right, he is really an admirable man, whom one must honour, love, and treasure. I cannot tell you definitely how soon I will be writing to St. Petersburg. It is not necessary for you to thank Mr. Keppen for his answer now, but do so when you apply to him again for advice in this matter. But you know yourself how far you should follow my advice. Johann Cornies. 309. Johann Cornies to Tietzmann. 31 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/61v. Mr. Tietzmann, I have been asked by a gentleman I know in Kharkov Guberniia to inquire if the Askanianova administration has as many as 1,000 ewes for sale and about prices, age, breed, and the time of year when they might be available. I humbly request that you, highly esteemed sir, inform me about this matter with the next mail. Johann Cornies. 310. Nicholaus Schmidt to Johann Cornies. 31 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-623/97. Most esteemed friend, Please forgive me that I am still unable to repay you on the date set, Monday. I wanted to visit you myself but was busy shearing sheep this week and it was almost impossible for me to get away. I had also hoped from day-to-day that buyers might appear for the one hundred wethers I have for sale that would immediately have provided me with the money I needed. Once I have sold these wethers, I will bring you the money. With heartfelt greetings, I am, with esteem, your loving friend, Nicholaus Schmidt.

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311. Johann Cornies to Johann Wiebe. 31 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/62. Esteemed friend Johann Wiebe in Neuteich, First and foremost, I report the safe return of my son and his companions on 2 May. I thank you and your dear wife for the love and the friendly reception you bestowed upon him in your home. How can I repay you, even if only in some measure? Please, suggest something. I am prepared to be of service at any time. The fact that my son had to stay in Prussia ten days longer than planned resulted in the heaping up of such a mountain of business that I was overcome with work and anxiety. I was less concerned about my own affairs than about those of the state and the colonization of the Nogais. Since 20 April government communications and Nogai deputations had put me under pressure. Thank God that everything was completed in time for spring. My son is now managing Tashchenak on his own, as he did in the past. Please let me make another important request. Through the Guardianship Committee for the Colonists in Southern Russia, our Society for the Advancement of Trades agreed to give your name to the Russian Imperial General Consulate in Danzig if it must withdraw money, specifically several thalers, from my account. I humbly request that when the demand is eventually made, you kindly make the advance on my behalf and then report it to me. When I receive the appropriate communication from you, I will most thankfully repay the sum advanced, that cannot yet be determined. Shearing is done and it would seem that wool prices are quite good. Lambing turned out moderately well. Spring here is very fruitful. The grass and grain are lush and everyone hopes and looks forward to an ample harvest. With a heartfelt and friendly greeting, I remain, with love, your friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 312. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 31 May 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/64. Mr. Blueher, I received the magnifying glass as well as the account and payment for silk. Many thanks. Wool prices have risen to thirty rubles, some lots even sold for thirty-four rubles, fifty kopeks with down payments.

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Because many sheep have only light wool this year, only about 100 puds have been bought on your account at twenty-eight rubles to date. Most of the wool here is being sent to the wool market at Romen. Purchasing wool [for you] must proceed quickly, since all wool will be cleared out of this area in a week or two. Johann Cornies. 313. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 7 June 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/64v.17 His Honour, General Inspector for Sericulture, State Counsellor Steven, Report from Johann Cornies, Mennonite in the Molochnaia village of Ohrloff. 1. On 10 May 1840, the Melitopol area Domains administration sent Stepan Efimenko, a young peasant from Chernigovka village, to me to learn practical agriculture, and also to teach his future comrades reading and writing. I gave him minor agricultural tasks to do. However, on 17 May he was not at his assigned work and could not be found on the estate. According to several of my workers who had worked with him, Efimenko, on 16 May, had stated that he had been appointed as a teacher and not as a worker, and would therefore leave his position. I reported this incident to the Domains administration on 3 June and the apprentice Efimenko was sent back to me under guard. In the meantime I have made inquiries among the Chernigovka peasants about Efimenko’s schooling, and learned that Efimenko had attended school for four years. After he left school on 1 July 1838, he was appointed as copyist in the Chernigovka District Office and served there until 6 February 1839. Then he was hired for one year at eighty rubles to apprentice with Tverdokhlebov, an official in Velikii Tokmak. He was released from this job on 6 February 1840 and, in April 1840, assigned to my estate to learn agriculture. Chernigovka peasants could not say anything good about Efimenko’s conduct because he had been involved in all kinds of trouble during the short period he had spent in his father’s house. Accordingly, I sent him back to the Uezd Domain administration with an explanation. 2. With communication No. 3394 of 17 May from the Tavrida Domains administration, the Perekop District administration forwarded the Tatar Pirmambet Dosmainbestov from Mashur-Kobshi village to be 17 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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taught agriculture. He claimed to be twenty years old. I assigned him small, easy tasks on my estate, but found him lazy, cunning, and without much ability to learn or grasp anything. By not assigning him specific tasks and having him work with a number of people, I had hoped to encourage him to diligence and greater industriousness, but he remained as he was, phlegmatic and dull. Nothing seemed to interest him in the least, other than eating and drinking well. For these reasons, I sent him to the Gross Tokmak District office to be sent on to the Melitopol District administration for State Domains, with an explanation. 3. On 18 May, the Mikhailov Village Office in Melitopol District forwarded Evdokia Dudkina, a fourteen-year-old girl from that village, to be taught agricultural activities for women. She is located on my Iushanle estate. 4. On 20 May, I received Marta Bishkova, a fifteen-year-old peasant girl from the Novoaleksandrovka Village Office, to be taught women’s work in agriculture. She is likewise located on the Iushanle estate. 5. On 21 May, Mr. Kalenichenko, assistant to the District head, sent me two Nogai youths from the local Uezd to be taught agriculture, one Karlanlov from the village of Ormanchi, the other Bigeld Allakaiev from Iurtamgale. Both are approximately twelve years of age and still too weak. I immediately returned them to Mr. Kalenichenko without explanation. 314. Friedrich Fein to Johann Cornies. 10 June 1840. SAOR 89-1-623/71. Treasured Mr. Cornies, I am observing the terms of my loan period by sending you 6000 rubles and 130 rubles interest for two months and five days. Please be so kind as to accept the money from my secretary and give him a receipt. I thank you for the credit and commend myself to you as your honest friend, Friedrich Fein. 315. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 12 June 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/68v. State Counsellor Steven, I was not in a position to report earlier on Yr. Honour’s esteemed commission No. 250 of 16 May about the seeding and harvesting of field crops. First, I was ill, but more importantly I was not in possession

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of the dates when each variety of grain was seeded and harvested annually, as you requested. I made inquiries among agriculturalists in our villages to see if someone had kept such records, but without results. No one seems to have. I therefore enclose only the records in this regard that I kept myself, which [though] incomplete, are accurate and dependable [not included]. With a humble request that my report not be negatively received, I remain, with complete respect and devotion, Yr. Honour’s devoted Johann Cornies. 316. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 15 June 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/70v. Mr. Blueher, On 11 June I again dispatched sixty-three bales of wool to you in Moscow, on twenty-four carts. I would again ask you to sell this wool on consignment, as before. Enclosed is the original copy of the contract between me and the carters, specifying that the carters will receive 1488 rubles upon satisfactory delivery. Please pay this sum, and note it on my account. According to the enclosed bill of lading, the carters loaded a total of 734 puds, two funt net as follows: J.C.: Select, eight sacks; First quality, twenty; Second quality, twenty; Third quality, fifteen, for a total of sixty-three sacks. This wool is clean of fodder. When sheep had clotted fodder in their wool, I had the sheep and their wool removed during shearing. By mistake, the wool from Tashchenak estate was dispatched without the designated markings. I would therefore note that sack numbers thirtytwo to sixty-three are the thirty-two sacks from Tashchenak. I hope the buyers will be satisfied with the washing. As in the past, and with complete confidence, I leave this matter to you to be conducted according to your best judgment. My only request is that, if possible, you send the money in small denominations or in cash. With friendly greetings and all esteem, I remain your friend and servant, Johann Cornies. [P.S.] Only about forty puds are still needed to complete your order for wool purchased on your behalf. They may well have been bought already at prices ranging from twenty-seven to thirty-one rubles per pud. Most wool sold at these prices, although a few lots fetched

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thirty-four rubles and more and a few twenty-six. A large proportion of our wool now goes to the wool market in Romen where prices over the last few years were better than here. The few wool buyers to come to our area bought hastily. This leads me to doubt that even a few hundred puds of wool could be purchased in our region. I do not know with any precision what the average price for your wool will be, but I think it will yield prices not higher than twenty-eight or twenty-eight-and-ahalf [rubles] per pud. It will be loaded and sent to you in Moscow next week. The same, Yr. Servant 317. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 17 June 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/72.18 His Honour, the General Inspector for Sericulture, State Counsellor Steven, Report from Johann Cornies, Mennonite in Ohrloff village. On 13 June two Nogai apprentices were sent to me to be trained in agriculture with a communication from the assistant to Mr. Kalenichenko, head of the local Uezd. They are Abitalip Dshunugsov, twenty, and Adshigelde Tomigsov, eighteen, though they appear to be several years older. Both Nogais come from the public school in Nogaisk where they had taught for four years. They tell me that they were sent not to work or to be trained in practical agriculture, but to spend two years on my estate perfecting their reading and writing of Russian and to learn tree planting and planning for new Nogai villages. No amount of money will persuade them to do heavy forestry work with hoes and spades. They gave me their written declaration in this regard, of which I enclose the original. I immediately sent both Nogais back to Mr. Kalenichenko with an explanation. I repeatedly hear that lower officials do not explain to peasants why they should apprentice their children to me. On the basis of Imperial directives, they simply order district offices to select peasant sons and deliver them to me on my estate. Under these circumstances, the most peculiar assumptions have arisen among the peasants. Many believe that apprentices placed in my care will, after several years, be sent abroad and never see their families again. For this reason, orphaned children are selected, good-for-nothings left to themselves at an early

18 Ibid.

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age, who have knocked about on their own. It would be highly desirable for lower officials to select the apprentices themselves and explain to the peasants the government’s humane objectives thoroughly and clearly, especially to the parents. This was done by the other assistant to Andreevskii, who selected the two girls who are now on my estate. 318. Nikolaus Schmidt to Johann Cornies. 27 June 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/14. Most honoured friend Cornies, Please do not be offended that I take the liberty of sending you money with my foster son. As you know, we farmers must stay at home during haying to keep things functioning well. I hereby send you 25l3 rubles toward the repayment of my debts. With a heartfelt greeting, I am, with respect and love, your friend Nikolaus Schmidt. 319. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 28 June 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/75. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Permit me to make a request. A case with meteorological instruments, weighing four puds, twenty-five funt, was sent by State Counsellor Keppen from St. Petersburg to State Counsellor Schroeder, Director of the Moscow Academy of Commerce, for forwarding to me. Please take receipt of it and have it forwarded to me with a good carter, if possible. Kindly pay whatever expenditures are required by State Counsellor Schroeder and withdraw this amount from my account. Please pass on the enclosed letter to Mr. Schroeder. As always, I remain your friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 320. Johann Cornies to State Counsellor Schroeder. 28 June 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/75v. His Honour, State Counsellor Schroeder in Moscow, On 5 June State Counsellor Keppen in Petersburg notified me that he had forwarded a crate of meteorological instruments to you via the St. Petersburg Transport Bureau. These were to be sent on to me. The label stated that the crate should be forwarded to Mr. Blueher, head of the Sarepta Trading Company, whom I have informed accordingly.

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I urgently request that if the crate has already been delivered to you, Yr. Honour have it forwarded to Mr. Blueher who will pay the necessary costs. May I sincerely thank Yr. Honour for taking receipt of the abovementioned items. I remain respectfully Yr. Honour’s obedient servant, Johann Cornies. 321. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 2 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/77.19 Yr. Honour, Gracious State Counsellor Fadeev, Please forgive my long neglect in answering your esteemed letter of 14 April 1840. It is my fault entirely, since business matters had kept me away from home for some time and I was ill for about eight days. I treasure your valued letters. They are a blessing for me, encourage me, give me joy and pleasure, and spur me on to new endeavours. I will never be indifferent to the many benefits I have enjoyed at your hands, nor will I forget them or change my sentiments towards you. May God preserve me from this. The establishment of a settlement for tradesmen will be of benefit not only for our district and tradesmen, but also crucial for the whole region. We cannot exist without tradesmen. Of the considerable number we already have, most work at their trade for only half the time, live on neighbouring land outside villages, and pursue agriculture for the rest of the year. Their sole aim is to feed themselves and provide fodder for a few head of livestock. They could clearly and more advantageously use their time by working at their trades [full-time], but they cannot do this until a number of them, with a variety of crafts, live together in one settlement. Such a development would permit agriculturalists to more easily and economically obtain the products of the crafts and trades that they often need urgently in summer. They could also supply the tradesmen with all of the necessities for their work more cheaply and efficiently than if they had to travel around to various villages. For example, when the cloth factory was still functioning [in Halbstadt], villagers would bring an abundance of foodstuffs, fuel, and even livestock fodder to the factory and sell these products at reasonable prices. 19 Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 10, and docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499.

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Tradesmen gathered in one place can perfect their skills more readily when others of the same trade live nearby. Many advantages both for husbandmen and tradespeople will follow from such a development. Many of the tradesmen are already convinced that if they are to improve their incomes everything essential for their existence should be brought to their doors. Some thirty good tradesmen have already affirmed that they would like to establish themselves in a tradesmen’s village near Halbstadt, should its creation be confirmed. The site is superb for this purpose and villagers in Halbstadt will suffer no loss as a result, benefiting, in fact, when they are given better land elsewhere. A majority of residents in Halbstadt understand these advantages and have already given their written consent. Only a few tradesmen already in Halbstadt fear that a tradesman’s village might damage their interests by offering better and cheaper craftsmanship from nearby competitors. Since they now have a monopoly in Halbstadt, this fear is natural, and expresses itself in opposition to anything in this regard that might be generally useful. I hope that authorization for the creation of a tradesmen’s village might not be long delayed, leaving our industrious tradesmen in uncertainty for so long. I humbly request that Yr Honour, State Counsellor, might kindly work at the higher levels [of state authority] to elicit this confirmation, according to your own best insights. In commending myself to you, I send you my heartfelt wishes. May our two heavenly friends, hope and patience, remain and accomplish your initiatives that are as demanding as they are useful. Trusting in your further benevolence, I remain, with boundless esteem and sincere respect, Yr Honour’s most devoted servant, Johann Cornies. [P.S.] The year promises a blessed harvest. All grains are growing so magnificently, even, in places, luxuriously, that no one can remember a better year. Grass, too, has already grown into hay. Our trees, however, are bearing little fruit. Trades and crafts develop with uninterrupted industry, improving visibly as the months pass. Because of improvements we have introduced, field cultivation, too, is advancing rapidly. Our plantations of trees are developing at a moderate pace, as planned. Sericulture, with an estimated production of some three puds of silk this year, is being more widely accepted. Ideas to improve horse and cattle breeding are under discussion and improvements have already begun. The introduction of oil-producing plants such as oil radish started this year and its success is not to be doubted if overseas markets develop as

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expected. This oil plant may well provide the Molochnaia with a gold mine fully as bountiful as Spanish sheep-breeding. Desperately ill, Martens left for Piatigorsk on 2 May. May God give him improved health. Otherwise, nothing much has changed. The same, Johann Cornies. 322. Johann Regier to Johann Cornies. 3 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/1. Most esteemed friend, Johann Cornies, I have prepared a presentation to the General Consul in Danzig on behalf of the five foreigners who still need consent forms. The latter, including a listing of names, are attached in draft form. Please examine them, and after improving inadequate expressions, return them to me for my signature and forwarding. With esteem and heartfelt greetings, I am your honest friend, Johann Regier. 323. Johann Cornies to Johann Wiebe (Neuteich, W. Prussia). 5 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/81.20 Esteemed Friend, This year I received several letters from Prussian brethren lamenting their distressing situation. According to royal directives, their rights on entailed estates will end by 1845. All such owners will then be required to subject themselves to military conscription or vacate these estates. As a result, I have made a respectful submission to the High Imperial Russian Ministry for State Domains, through State Counsellor Keppen, Section Head in the Third Department, asking if it might be possible to make crown lands available to Mennonites who live on entailed estates in West Prussia. This would be done on conditions that would permit them to settle in the Russian Empire with all of the rights and privileges legally available. In response to my petition, State Counsellor Keppen has submitted a memorandum to His Excellency, the Minister for State Domains, Count Kiselev, that contains the accompanying resolution. The Minister thinks it possible to settle more Mennonites in Russia with the selfsame legal

20 Regarding the proposed immigration of Prussian Mennonites, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 266, 323, 324, 361, 392, 422, 447.

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rights and privileges that we presently enjoy. I have been authorized to conduct further correspondence in regard to this matter. If our brethren in faith wish to move to Russia and their church leaders are prepared to work together in support of what is beneficial for their community members, a deputation of two or three enlightened and efficient men, representing those desiring to emigrate, should proceed directly to St. Petersburg. There they should discuss the applicable terms of settlement with State Counsellor Keppen in person and conclude an appropriate agreement with the government. Having given you this information, dear friend, I would ask you to inform the honourable church leaders in West Prussia as soon as possible that, if they wish to further the well-being of our brethren in faith, they must act quickly and not allow this auspicious moment to pass. The time when such advantageous arrangements would be granted Prussian Mennonites by the Russian state administration may not come soon again, if ever. [P.S.] 6 July 1840. To the same, I think it necessary to explain the following to any such deputation to St. Petersburg that I hope succeeds in achieving the intended emigration from Prussia. The deputation should not begin its discussions on behalf of people of a poorer class. This would be detrimental to their cause, and be determinedly rejected. The submission requesting immigration must specify the exact number of families making application, as can be seen in the Minister’s explanation. Moreover, it would be preferable to petition on behalf of families who do not live on their own land in Prussia, but on leased lands. I have made an appeal only for these people. We must remember that the Russian Imperial government is sensitive about receiving foreigners and especially about granting them privileges. In this matter it proceeds carefully and wisely in order that state interests not be endangered. If a deputation arrives in St. Petersburg it must be careful to take up lodgings in a respectable inn, for example in the hostelries of Weimar, Berlin, London, and others, but under no circumstances in those of Riga, Reval, and others that do not have the best reputation. In Petersburg the first question is, where have you taken your lodgings? State Counsellor Keppen is not now at home. He is travelling around guberniias in the Russian interior but will be back in Petersburg during the first days of September. The Minister [Kiselev] has travelled abroad and is only expected back in October. The deputation should not arrive in Petersburg before mid-September. Inquiries about Mr. Keppen’s

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place of residence can be made at the Imperial Academy of Sciences or also in the Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains. I know Mr. Keppen as an honest, upright German and I can recommend him, in good conscience, to anyone who loves truth. He will certainly act quickly and effectively to do everything he can possibly do for the deputies. He is an intelligent man who loves the Mennonites and is highly respected within the government. With the next mail, I will write to Mr. Keppen in the guberniia city of Vladimir explaining that I have notified my Prussian brethren in faith about the Minister’s resolution regarding the purpose of immigration to Russia. I will also inform him that a deputation of Prussian Mennonites will presumably find its way to St. Petersburg by the end of September and appear before him with a petition requesting that he assist the deputation as an intermediary. I request, cherished friend, that you send me a report as quickly as possible detailing the views on this subject of the church leadership. What are its reactions and does it intend to act? Only in this way can I make the appropriate reports to St. Petersburg. The last call favouring Prussian Mennonites has been made by the Imperial Russian government. I have done my best and can therefore be content, regardless of whether action is taken or not on a matter that would benefit many thousands of my brethren. Whether this venture comes to fruition or not, the future will prove its timeliness. To make it possible for our poorer brethren to immigrate to Russia as well, the deputies would also apply on their behalf explaining that a settlement founded only by the wealthy could not exist well on its own but needs tradespeople of all types, servants, maids, and day-labourers. Such reasons will, without doubt, warrant special consideration and be accepted. 324. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 10 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/87.21 His Honour, State Counsellor Keppen, After receiving your esteemed and agreeable communication of 21 May 1840 regarding the settlement of additional Mennonites, I immediately wrote to my brethren in faith in Prussia, enclosing the Minister’s

21 Ibid. Regarding Cornies’ role in collecting environmental data, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 265, 279, 324, 423, 499, 513, 555, 556, 574, 576.

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resolution, translated into German. If they were inclined to immigrate to Russia, I encouraged them to send their own deputation to St. Petersburg, and apply directly to you, State Counsellor, with their petition. In my opinion such an important subject could be concluded more quickly and satisfactorily if pursued in this manner, rather than through letters back and forth. Meanwhile, my Prussian brethren have written that their dire situation had led them to petition the king, requesting an extension of the time designated for the abolition of their hereditary rights on the estates where Mennonites live.22 In response, a gracious resolution has been handed down postponing the abolition of their hereditary rights to estates where they presently live for a further twenty years, specifically to 1865. Meanwhile, I am sure that when they learn of the Russian Imperial government’s inclination to permit the settlement of additional Mennonites in Russia on specific terms, they would not let this favourable moment for themselves and their descendants pass. They would still send a deputation to St. Petersburg in fall to request their settlement in Russia and to conclude appropriate terms of settlement. With the most complete esteem, I remain Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. [P.S.] I request your forgiveness, Mr. State Counsellor, that I have found it necessary to delay my answers to your esteemed and welcome letters for so long. My business often requires my absence from home, there are many distractions that intrude on my time, and I cannot always do what I should do and what gives me pleasure. This spring, for instance, I was occupied in settling the Nogais [in new villages] and in duties in various of our villages. [The Nogai village of] Akkuia is laid out in a regular fashion on site and a large number of hearth-sites have been surrounded by a ditch. Steps can now be taken to construct houses. First-Kahash, Kisildinoglu, and Burkut are planned and will be doing their construction in a regular fashion next spring. Edinokhta also submitted a petition expressing its wish to found a regularly planned settlement next year. Russian peasants are showing a lively interest in these developments, especially Semenovka, which has intentions of building a section [of its village] in a regular fashion before the end of summer. A sketch was made of this location, and it will be planned on site next week. People make

22 Regarding the proposed immigration of Prussian Mennonites, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 266, 323, 324, 361, 392, 422, 447.

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progress and encourage one another. Baron Rosen makes frequent visits and his benevolent exhortations to the peasants have contributed a great deal in this area. Spring arrived late again this year. Flowers in gardens, fields, and on fruit trees blossomed fourteen days later than usual. There will be little fruit this year. The grain simply shot up and recurring rains promoted rapid growth, but the sudden onset of extreme heat that rose to twenty-nine degrees from 26 to 29 June will undoubtedly hinder the grain, which will ripen too soon. The grass has grown moderately well this year, but many other plants failed to germinate because of the late spring. The weather, however, was favourable for sericulture, and its acceptance [among our Mennonites] is increasing. It is expected that about three puds of reeled silk will be produced this year. Shearing was light and sheep in many flocks died as also happened in the last two years. At present, cattle are affected by hoof-and-mouth disease and this has seriously affected the production of butter. On 17 June, His Excellency, Acting State Counsellor Bradke, visited us.23 I had the pleasant honour of attending upon him in my home where I presented him with a mounted map of the settlements. The Acting State Counsellor spent two days in our villages inspecting the many noteworthy features of progress in land cultivation and other branches of industry in evidence everywhere. Mr. Witte, an admirable agronomist who accompanied His Excellency, has a thorough knowledge of practical agriculture.24 He greatly obliged me with his systematic information and explanations of developments in higher levels of field cultivation. Immediately after receiving your letter, I wrote to my correspondent in Moscow, asking him to take delivery from State Counsellor Schroeder of the meteorological instruments you kindly sent him. I also wrote a few lines to the State Counsellor himself, requesting that he release these objects to my correspondent, Mr. Blueher, manager of the Sarepta Trading Company.

23 Bradke was the Director of the Third Section of the Ministry of State Domains. 24 Probably Iulii Witte, an employee of the ministry who was an expert in New Russian agricultural practices. Witte married Fadeev’s daughter Helena; their son, Sergei Witte, went on to fame as Russia’s Minister of Finance. See Iulii Witte’s “O Sel’skom khosiaistve v Khersonskoi, Tavricheskoi i Ekaterinoslavskoi guberniakh,” ZhMVD (1834): 58–75, 101–22.

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If they are still available, I will not fail to send ten to fifteen copies of maps of the German settlements to you in St. Petersburg and will also send you a sketch of the steppe after mowing. Many thanks, State Counsellor, for the highly interesting leaflets you kindly sent me. The teacher Wilhelm Lange came to my house to discuss the establishment of a printing press with State Counsellor Bradke. The State Counsellor clearly explained the difficulties involved in such a development and said that a press could not exist here, even if there were sufficient work for it, which the State Counsellor seriously doubted. The intention of founding our own printery has therefore been abandoned.25 Please permit me to ask you that the thermometer being sent be adjusted to accurately measure the temperature of water in wells. I will repay your costs in St. Petersburg with thanks. 325. Johann Cornies to [Johann Regier]. 12 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/92v. Most esteemed friend, Please forgive me for the long delay in sending back the draft to the General Consulate that you asked me to look over. I can think of no useful observations to add to what it already states. Since there are also settlements and villages called Neuteich in Prussia, it occurs to me that one should add [to the address] J.W. in Neuteich, West Prussia, to prevent possible errors. With heartfelt greetings, I remain your true friend, Johann Cornies. 326. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 12 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/91.26 Report to State Counsellor Steven, Notification No. 3317 from the Domains Administration for the Melitopol District, responding to No. 4777 from the Tavrida Domains 25 In the original draft, this sentence replaces the following, which was crossed out in the document: “I believe these dear people will now be quiet and not talk about establishing something that is not really necessary and would provide nothing useful.” 26 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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Bureau, asks me to explain why the apprentice Permambet Dosm proved himself unqualified to learn practical agriculture. What abilities should such apprentices possess? According to the terms agreed upon with me to accept apprentices to learn agricultural practices on my estate (specifically the second section), I did not consider it necessary to give the Domains Bureau an explanation as to why Permambet is unqualified, etc. But according to this particular section, I was duty bound to report to you, Yr. Honour, why I consider Permambet unqualified and sent him away. I did this most obediently on 7 June 1840. Enclosed is my explanation to the Melitopol District Domains Administration. I also enclose copies of the communication from the Tavrida Domains Bureau to the Melitopol District Administration and of the notification sent to me from the latter by the local District director. Johann Cornies. 327. Johann Cornies [to Wilhelm Martens]. 16 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/93. Dear friend, The reason for this letter is not simply to respond to your request for a report regarding the discussions you asked me, David Schroeder, and Johannn Neufeld to hold concerning the cancellation of the sale of your mill. Mainly I wanted to offer a word of consolation in regard to your illness. Although I deeply regret that your illness shows no signs of improvement, I must honestly advise you not to change your doctors as you have frequently done. This may arouse mistrust and aggravate your illness even more. Dear friend, even if your convalesence is not progressing as quickly as you would like, try to be patient, be consistent and stay with your original intention to seek recovery at the baths. You must pay attention only to the doctor you trust, not to everyone you meet. In this way you will definitely improve, even if your recovery is not complete. I find it necessary to tell you this faithfully and openly as your sympathetic friend. Your wishes with regard to the sale of the mill cannot be carried out. Schellenberg will not give it back voluntarily and no one can force him to. It would also be a great injustice. Try to dismiss the mill from your thoughts, and keep in mind that a good conscience is the best resting place for you.

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Your whole family seems to be healthy and well. With heartfelt greetings, I again wish you perseverance at the health baths and commend you to God who is the best doctor, comfort, and support for all of us. I remain as always, with honest love, your sympathetic friend, Johann Cornies. 328. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 24 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/94v.27 His Honour, General Inspector of Sericulture, State Counsellor Steven, Report from Johann Cornies, Mennonite in Ohrloff village, With communication No. 3149 of 27 June from the Melitopol District Domains Administration, Dschanaidin, a nineteen-year-old Tatar from Kipchak village in Evpatoria District was sent to learn agricultural practices with me. When he entered my service, he was found to be healthy, strong, and capable of carrying out all agricultural jobs assigned. He was also possessed of intellectual abilities that allowed him to understand all branches of work on my estate. To my great sorrow, on 14 July this capable apprentice fell ill with a brain inflammation. We called a doctor, but the illness developed into typhus and he died on 20 July. The deceased’s possessions and clothes are listed below, piece by piece. I enclose the list with the request that you let me know where I should send his effects. Please, Yr. Honour, have the enclosed document in the Tatar language passed on to the deceased’s surviving relatives. It would inform them about his death, about his burial according to Muslim practices, and help them to find peace. Without any communication, the District Chairman of Schnuet Dshukel District in Melitopol Uezd sent me, on July 10, the Nogai Kutlale Keldaliev from First Edinokhta to learn agricultural practices. His age is not known. He is healthy and physically strong so that he will be able to carry out all jobs on my estate. He possesses a healthy, natural intelligence and good will. Johann Cornies. [P.S.] Inventory of possessions left by the Kipchak Tatar Dschanaidin, deceased 20 July 1840, who was learning agricultural practices with me: 1 pair of new, cloth trousers; 1 striped, cotton jacket; 1 calico vest;

27 Ibid.

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1 comb; 2 pairs of linen trousers; 2 linen shirts; 1 calico shirt; 1 new black fur cap; 1 nankeen coat; 1 calico pillowcase; 1 linen bed covering; 1 pair of old boots; 1 woollen scarf; 1 handkerchief and fifteen silver rubles. 329. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 24 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/96. State Counsellor Steven, Yr. Honour was most kind in sending me the articles about activities of the Hohenheimer Akkerbauschule [Hohenheim School for Field Cultivation] at Stuttgart. I have only read them hurriedly but can easily understand why such an institution would be of great value to the peasantry and a similar one, with modifications, would be useful here as well. I have had copies of the articles made and am returning the originals with my most obliging thanks. Grain harvesting will be completed this week. Since the founding of the Molochnaia villages, it has never before been necessary to complete both haying and grain harvesting as quickly as this year. All of the work, from the onset of grass mowing until the last sheaf of grain was cut, was completed within five weeks. The persistent drought, with temperatures of twenty-eight to thirty degrees, speeded the ripening of grain. All varieties demanded the mower’s attention at the same time and many will have correspondingly small kernels. Fortunately a large number of workers from the interior of Russia found their way to this area, making it unnecessary to leave the grain until it was overripe. It could be cut and brought in without damage. Our harvest turned out much better than last year’s and we anticipate tenfold returns, fifteenfold in some places, except for rye, which mostly failed. Flax shot up sparse and long-stemmed, and promises a good return. Oil radish was cultivated more widely for the first time and likewise promises rich returns. The crop of potatoes will be small, since the great heat wilted their foliage. Sufficient hay was mowed to satisfy our needs and its quality is better than last year. Grain prices here are as follows: wheat, fourteen rubles, oats and barley, eight rubles, and rye, twelve to thirteen rubles per chetvert. All mills here have mill-stones that produce bagged flour but this season everyone is overloaded with agricultural work and has no time to travel away from home, even when the prospects of a good profit are high.

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People are healthy and have endured our great drought and heat well. The exceptions are cases of diarrhoea here and there, but no deaths. Foot-and-mouth disease broke out among the cattle in various places. Prices for cows are high, from eighty to a hundred and twenty rubles apiece, with similar prices for horses. There is, however, no demand for ewes. Fat-tailed geldings are selling for eight rubles. Washed wool sold here for twenty-six to thirty rubles, with several lots going as high as thirty-four rubles. The crafts and trades continue their lively growth. Construction of better, more attractive houses has visibly improved the beauty of our villages. In a word, the progress of our local civilization lacks nothing except a capable administrator who will lead it in accordance with the customs and usages of the Mennonites, and maintain the good things that we have already begun. I owe you a debt of gratitude, esteemed State Counsellor, and would gladly repay you if only you could let me know, how and when. With the most complete esteem and constant devotion, I endeavour to remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 330. Johann Cornies to [F. Rosen]. 26 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/98. Honoured Baron, I have increased the plantations and fruit-tree nurseries that I have established myself to provide for the needs of our Mennonite villages and can even supply a substantial number of improved fruit trees to persons not resident in our villages. When I founded my plantation and increased my nurseries, I was especially concerned that I should not confine myself to the needs of the Mennonite community. I wished to make my improved fruit trees useful to the whole region. I thought, in particular, about making well-raised and improved fruit trees available to peasants in Melitopol and Alesk uezds. My humble request is that Yr. Honour kindly publicize wherever appropriate that, on 1 October 1840, my estate of Iushanle in Melitopol District will make available from 50,000 to 60,000 two- to threeyear-old, improved and well-grown fruit trees, with tall, healthy, and vigorous growth. Most are apple, pear, plum, and cherry trees at the following prices: two- and three-year apple and pear trees at thirteen kopeks each, plum trees (pruno domestica) at ten kopeks, and Vladimir cherries at five silver kopeks. I have twenty-nine varieties of apple trees and twenty-six varieties of pear trees, all of exceptionally choice quality

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for household and table use, including summer, autumn, and winter fruit. Anticipating that my request will be granted, I remain with most excellent esteem, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 331. Johann Cornies to F. Rosen. 26 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/99. Ali Pasha This is the name of a Nogai, forty-seven years old, who lives in the village of Edinokhta, Melitopol District, Tavrida Guberniia. In the eighteenth year of his life, he along with three other Nogai youths was chosen by Count Demaison, commanding officer at that time, to accustom himself to domestic life at the Count’s court in Nogaisk and to assist in the establishment of a fruit orchard. At the same time, Ali Pasha wanted to learn something about tree planting himself. The Count encouraged Ali Pasha in these interests. Ali Pasha was strong, vigorous, and possessed of natural abilities that enabled him to comprehend and patiently apply every operation according to the Count’s wishes. When the Nogai people were settled in villages after their nomadic existence, the Count gave Ali Pasha the opportunity to lay out a very small orchard at his father’s house, and from time to time released him to work on it. Due to the scrupulous care that Ali Pasha lavished on his orchard, his trees grew quickly, to the great vexation of the Nogais. The Count always placed a high value in the plantation laid out by Ali Pasha and visited it several times a year. Duc de Richelieu, Civilian Governor of Tavrida at that time, honoured Ali Pasha’s orchard with a visit and because of his exemplary plantation, a special presentation released him in perpetuity from obligations to furnish transport and other local compulsory services. As long as Count Demaison protected Ali Pasha’s plantation, the Nogais did not dare to destroy his trees. When the Count obtained his discharge as commanding officer over the Nogais in 1822, however, Ali Pasha already had a larger area for a new fruit orchard enclosed by a ditch, had made the necessary preparations for tree planting, and had sown a considerable quantity of seeds. The Nogais became so enraged at these innovations, which they feared would eventually force all of them into similarly toilsome work, that about 200 persons who had gathered at a funeral decided on the spot to destroy Ali Pasha’s tree plantations completely. Young and old, they appeared around Ali Pasha’s new tree plantation and called Ali Pasha to appear before them from the village where he

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lived. There they cursed him for his innovations and abruptly destroyed everything he had created through his diligence and toil. They left only one small orchard beside his house undamaged in order to test whether the provisional commanding officer would place the same high value on Ali Pasha’s tree planting [as Count Demaison]. When they discovered that the provisional officer of the Nogais had little interest in plantations, they secretly also destroyed the small orchard beside Ali Pasha’s house even though its trees were still bearing fruit. Ali Pasha launched a court case with the Melitopol District Court, demanding compensation for the outrage done him. The decision was finally rendered a full seventeen years later. It ordered the Nogais to pay Ali Pasha 1000 rubles compensation. Graciously, Ali Pasha accepted only 700 rubles. Until 1834, Ali Pasha was without an orchard. As much as he wanted to establish one, he was afraid that the provisional commanding officer, who had no interest in the laying out of tree plantations among the Nogais, would not protect him from similar outrages. Then the position of the commanding officer was abolished and the Nogais were made subject directly to the lower courts. Kolosov, judge at the time, protected all arrangements of benefit to the Nogais. Encouraged anew, Ali Pasha obtained a place for an orchard at the east end of the village of Edinokhta. There he first built a house and then, in 1834, arranged for the planting of fruit trees and proposed the establishment of tree nurseries to raise large quantities of fruit as well as forest trees. For three years he has annually sold not inconsiderable quantities of wild and improved fruit and forest trees from his nurseries to nearby estate owners and peasants. Poor himself, and without male children, he had to do all the work on his property and in his orchard himself. He also accepted fifty ewes on local terms, for half the profits, cared for them in an exemplary fashion, and through exacting and economically careful management of other branches of agriculture, soon attained a position of moderate wealth. His orchard plantation can serve as an example not only for the Nogais, but also for others. Deserving of special notice are the consistency of the tree plantings, the establishment of nurseries with several thousand growing and thriving fruit and forest trees, the cleanliness and order with which this small plantation adorns the treeless region, and the fact that all this was established and is worked by a Nogai. As our humane Imperial government is pleased to promote everything that is good for the subjects of the empire, it also rewards those who persevere and show themselves to be directly and indirectly useful to the general good. Ali Pasha’s example in tree planting in the past

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year, 1839, was specifically recognized by the government, which did not leave him unrewarded. His chest is now adorned with a silver medal inscribed with the words “For zeal.” He wears it on a special ribbon around his neck. This he has earned and is worthy of our respect. Ali Pasha continues to plan the improvement and extension of his agricultural arrangements. He wishes to increase his income and to be useful to his fellow Nogais through his example. This year he raised more than 3000 silkworms, which he fed to the chrysalis stage with the foliage of the mulberry trees he had himself planted in his orchard. As evidence, I have the honour to send along one of these to Yr. Honour. He has about 3000 mulberry trees and has decided not to sell any more from his plantation until he has planted a whole desiatina with mulberry trees. He can then pursue sericulture on a large scale. The story of Ali Pasha’s orchard plantation can serve as an example of how quickly it is possible to accomplish the noble striving of our benevolent, high government that does what it can to select suitable and secure measures that increase the happiness of the country and the wealth of its subjects. If peasants take note of the fact that appointed administrators have the promotion of their happiness and well-being at heart and are assured that they value the good things they have initiated, the state can reach the highest degree of perfection. Johann Cornies. 332. Johann Cornies to [F. Rosen]. 26 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/102v. Most Honoured Baron, In the accompanying small case, marked A.T., there are 3100 individual cocoons from Ali Pasha, sorted into two varieties, yellow and white, of which the latter form the larger part and are packed in such a way that they can be forwarded by mail without damage. Johann Cornies. 333. Johann Cornies to [F. Rosen]. 26 July 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/102v.28 Honoured Baron, In accordance with your wishes, I designed a plan for the projected fruit tree plantation on a piece of land designated by the Molokan 28 Regarding the efforts of the Molokans Andreev and Voroshchev to establish a tree nursery, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 263, 300, 333, 360, 466.

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village of Novovasilievka for a plantation enclosed by a ditch. According to verbal information from these Molokans, this piece of land is 155 fathoms wide and long. I prepared the accompanying plan accordingly, dividing it into nine main sections. These sections would be too large to be cleaned and worked most effectively and so I divided each one into four parts, as can be seen on the plan. I found it to be more suitable to plant the apple and pear trees in their own particular rows, and the stone fruit between them, as the green, yellow, and black dots show in section No. 1. According to this plan, twenty-five apple and twenty-five pear trees and fifty stone fruit trees (cherry, plum, and apricot trees) would then be planted. In total, 3600 fruit trees will be required to complete the plantation, and according to these rules, half must be fruit with kernels and the other half stone fruit, planted at the specified distance of every five faden for each kernel fruit tree, with a tree bearing stone fruit between them. It seems to me that planting would proceed much better and more quickly if the whole community arranged to have a specific number of families or souls assigned to plant each small section. They could divide the rows of trees again as their particular property for planting. This would enable them to vie with one another in planting their particular portion quickly. They would also be animated by the hope of eating fruit from trees they had planted themselves. With complete esteem and respect, I am honoured to be Yr. Honour’s willing servant, Johann Cornies. 334. Johann Cornies to Baron Rosen. 8 [August] 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/105.29 Report to Baron Rosen, I have the honour of obediently submitting the enclosed special report to Yr. Honour about ten individuals sent to me this summer by the Domains administrations in Melitopol, Evpatoria, and Perikop uezds to learn practical agriculture on my estates. I decided that six of these ten individuals were not suited to learn agricultural practices on my estates and sent them back. One person died on my estate and the three I considered as suitable for this purpose are still there. 29 This report regarding agricultural apprentices in part repeats several previous letters to Rosen. Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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Individuals sent to me to learn practical agriculture from Melitopol, Evpatoria, and Perekop uezds of Tavrida guberniia: 1. On 10 May 1840, the Melitopol District Domains administration sent me the peasant youth Stepan Efimenko from Chernigovka village. It was also planned that he would teach reading and writing to his future comrades. On 17 May, Efimenko could not be found at the jobs assigned to him or anywhere else on my estate. Several of my employees declared that Efimenko told them he had been sent here not as a worker but as a teacher and would leave for this reason. I immediately reported this incident to the district administration. It returned the runaway under guard to my estate on 3 July. In the meantime, I made inquiries about Efimenko’s education among the peasants in Chernigovka and learned that he had indeed attended school for four years, leaving on 1 July 1838. He had then served as copyist in the Chernigovka office until 6 February 1839, when he was hired as assistant to the priest in Gross Tokmak for a year at eighty rubles. He completed his service 6 February 1840. In April 1840, the community decided that he should learn practical agriculture under my supervision. They could give little further evidence about his conduct, except that the short time Efimenko had lived in his parental house was spent in idleness. I sent him back to the Melitopol District Domains administration with the explanation that Stepan Efimenko showed no desire to learn practical agriculture and was therefore not suited for the position. 2. On 17 May, with communication No. 3394, the Perekop District Domain administration forwarded the orphaned Tatar Permandet Dohmambetov from Mashut Kobshii village to me. Twenty years of age, according to his own evidence, he was lazy, deceitful, and showed hardly any ability to comprehend or to learn anything. He was interested in nothing further than eating well and sleeping. Therefore, I found him unsuitable to learn practical agriculture and, with this explanation, sent him to the Melitopol District Domains administration for further dispatch. 3. On 18 May, the Mikhailov village administration in Melitopol District forwarded the orphaned peasant girl, Evdokia Didkin, fourteen years of age, to learn women’s agricultural jobs. At this date, she seems suitable for the purpose and is still on my Iushanle estate. 4. On 20 May, the Novoaleksandrovka village administration forwarded the orphaned peasant girl Marfa Bichkov, fifteen years of age, to learn women’s agricultural tasks. She has also shown herself to be suitable and is presently on my Iushanle estate.

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5. On 21 May, the assistant to the local district supervisor, Mr. Kalenichenko sent two boys to learn practical agriculture. Nigara Kartabov is from Ormanhy village and Bigelde Alakaiev from Furtomgale. Both boys of about twelve years of age are physically weak. I immediately sent them back to Mr. Kalenichenko without explanation. 6. On 13 June, Mr. Kalenichenko tried to leave two Nogais, Abitalip Dchonahrov and Adchigelde Tomishrov, with me to learn practical agriculture. According to their appearance, the former was twenty years old, the latter eighteen, but both were probably several years older. They came from the Nogai elementary school in Nogaisk where they had been for four years. They told me that they had been sent to my estate not to work and learn practical agriculture but to perfect their ability to read and write the Russian language. At the same time, they were to learn tree planting and planning for new Nogai villages over a period of two years. They refused to do rough peasant work with hoes and spades for any money, declaring this in writing. I sent the original declaration to His Honour, State Counsellor Steven, and immediately sent both of these Nogais back to Mr. Kalenichenko, explaining that I could not accept them on such conditions. 7. On 30 June, with communication No. 3749, the Melitopol District Domains administration forwarded Dschanaidin, a nineteen-year-old Tatar from the village of Kipchak, Evpatoria District. When he entered my establishment, this apprentice was healthy, physically strong, and capable of carrying out all agricultural tasks. He possessed sufficient mental abilities to understand all branches of my establishment. To my great sorrow, however, this capable apprentice fell ill with an inflammation of the brain on 14 July. A doctor was called, but the illness developed into typhus and he died on 20 July. 8. On 10 July, the Melitopol District forwarded Kutlale Keldaliev, a Nogai from the village of First Edinokhta, to learn practical agriculture. Presumably eighteen years old, healthy, lively, and physically strong, he is able to carry out all the work done on my estates. He also possesses good will and a healthy, natural intelligence. 335. Ruekel to Johann Cornies. 14 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/33. My dear benefactor, Mr. Cornies, Although I am unable to repay my debt and cannot visit you personally, I must at least reassure you again that, with God’s help, I will

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repay you honourably and with thanks, sooner or later. Please continue to show me your kind patience and spare me any warnings, as you have done until now. Making you wait such a long time is painful for me, but I console myself that you are not suffering any need because of this situation. This I feel is my great good fortune. In all candour I must report that I have, until now, had to satisfy other creditors. Had I not incurred other debts than yours when I built my house, I would have been free long ago. You will not believe how heavily this burdens me. Thank God that I will soon have repaid all of them except for the debts to Mr. Neufeld, your brother-in-law. Last spring I almost sold my house. I was offered 1180 rubles cash for it. The community had given its agreement and two pails of wine had already been drunk on the deal. However, my wife and children persuaded me to back out of the deal and I have decided to stay here. As to the progress of my much-discussed matter and to the two petitions I sent to the Tsar, I know as little about this at the moment as Mehmed-Ally in Egypt or Abdul Kadder in Africa might. It is remarkable that a poor man can be so oppressed and mistreated here. It is too difficult for him to obtain his legal rights and he cannot undertake legal proceedings against his oppressors and bloodsuckers. In closing, it is my wish that you and your loved ones might be in the best of health when you receive this communication and that you might not blame me for being unthankful in my frugal circumstances. With God’s grace, I hope to rectify everything and should I not live so long, my descendents will do so. Greetings and remembrance from your honest debtor, Ruekel.

336. R. Regehr to Johann Cornies. 15 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/35. Mr. Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, I hereby request that you kindly remit, with my son, a loan of 2000 rubles for one or two months, at which time I will repay you. I would like to have silver, if possible, and I will repay you in silver. I would have come over myself, but am too unwell to drive. With friendly greetings, I am your devoted R. Regehr.

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337. Johann Cornies to Bradke. 17 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/108v. [Mr.] Bradke, Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, When I enjoyed the honour of showing you my respect personally in my house in Ohrloff, you graciously granted me your trust by having Mr. Esipov prepare exact sketches and depictions of the dwellings and agricultural buildings usually found here on peasant yards in Mennonite villages. In accordance with this esteemed commission, I hereby send a roll in waxed linen marked Litt: E. It contains: 1. A floor plan of a dwelling house in the Mennonite villages, the scale in Rhineland feet, exactly depicting its features as well as the livestock barn and granary. 2. A side view of a dwelling and a livestock barn, and a gable view of the granary. 3. A gable view of the dwelling and side views of the livestock barn. 4. A cross section of the dwelling house and livestock barn. 5. A lengthwise cross-section of the granary and profile of the livestock barn. I promised Mr. Esipov that I would send these sketches to Yr. Excellency’s address in St. Petersburg by 1 August at the latest, but was not able to do so earlier. In light of Yr. Excellency’s well-know kindness, I beg you to forgive the delay. It was not in my power to finish pressing matters of business that caused me to postpone this work for longer than I had expected. Though deeply pained, I was unable to meet your wishes according to expectations, but I flatter myself with the hope that I may do so in future. I assure Yr. Excellency, that it would be a great honour for me to be included in your well-disposed orders and commissions in future. With these honest intentions, and with esteem and devotion, I have the honour to sign myself, Yr. Excellency’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 338. Johann Peters to Johann Cornies. 17 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/43. Valued friend, When I visited you last Saturday you said that on Tuesday you would inquire whether there was a possibility of renting the two pieces of land

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we discussed. You said I should remind you of this promise in writing lest you forget. This I now urgently request. With greetings, I sign myself as your friend, Johann Peters. Gnadenheim, 17 August 1840. [Note (possibly dated 22 August 1840, but not in journal) in Johann Cornies’ hand seems to say:] The district head promised me he would make inquiries about the pieces of land in question. He told me one had already been rented by [indecipherable] and would only be available next year. 339. Johann Matthies to Johann Cornies. 19 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/45. Valued Mr. Cornies, We received your communication. Please forgive me that we were unable to make the payment at the agreed upon time. Trade is now so bad that we have no income in prospect. Please be patient. Father is not at home. When he gets home he will repay you as soon as possible. I remain your faithful servant, Johann Matthies 340. Johann Cornies to Fedor Rosen. 19 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/110v.30 His Honour, Baron Rosen, Yesterday Sergei Shumkov, son of a peasant from the village of Timashovskii in our area, gave me a written petition at my home in Ohrloff. I enclose the original. He asks me to accept him as an apprentice to learn practical agriculture. He seems suitable and his conduct is said to be beyond reproach. He has parents, helps them to work their holding, and, were he to be accepted [as an apprentice], has enough schooling to be able to teach reading and writing to his comrades. He may, however, be slated for selection in the next recruitment. This leads me to think that in the event that I should accept Shumakov as an apprentice and should he later prove to be unsuitable (forcing me to send him away), his community might be burdened with an obligation to provide another recruit to fulfil their obligation. Would the community still be able to send him into the military as a recruit? 30 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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I would therefore most humbly request that Yr. Honour give me a definite reply as soon as possible. Can Sergei Shumakov, a peasant’s son, be accepted among the apprentices assigned to me without causing a disadvantage to his community? With highest esteem, I remain Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 341. District Office to Johann Cornies. 20 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/47.31 To esteemed Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, Since the creditors of Mennonite cloth manufacturer Johann Klassen in Halbstadt are being summoned to the District Office at 9 a.m. on 31 August to reach an agreement, you are also requested to appear at the District Office at the same time. District Office in Halbstadt, 20 August 1840. District Deputy Braun, District Office Secretary Fast. 342. Johann Cornies to Fedor Rosen. 22 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/112v. Baron Rosen (Official), On 15 August, the Ulkonbeskeklie District Office dispatched the Nogai Diusenbe Tulesgov, eighteen years of age, to learn practical agriculture. I found him to be suitable for this purpose and he is now working on my Iushanle estate. With the addition of this apprentice, I now have two Nogai apprentices and two Russian girls learning agriculture with me. I hereby inform Yr. Honour accordingly. A notice with this information also sent to State Counsellor Steven. (Private): Yr. Honour will forgive me if I most respectfully request several offprints of the description of Ali Pasha, should it be found suitable for publication. I urgently endeavour to remain Yr. Honour’s honest servant, Johann Cornies.

31 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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343. Johann Cornies to Esipov. 22 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/113. Mr. Esipov, Trusting in the kind sympathies you showed me when I paid you my respects during your visit to my house in June 1840, I make this humble presentation. An issue of the general agricultural newspaper published by A. Rueder, Halle, in 1835 carried an article about the Tavrida colony of Askanianova that was meant to refute and correct several reports about this area that had appeared earlier in the newspaper. Our local Society, established and confirmed by the authorities to advance and disseminate forest-tree, orchard, sericulture, and viticulture, and to support agriculture, finds several points in the article that are of great concern to Molochnaia Mennonites. I would request that my remarks be published in order that truth might be established in this matter. Kindly, if my remarks are considered appropriate for printing, send me a few off-prints of my submission. With a request that you accept the assurances of my commitment to you. I remain, with due esteem, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 344. Corrections to “To Establish the Truth” [Zur Steuer der Wahrheit]. 22 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/114v. No. 37 of the “General Agricultural Newspaper” for 1835, published by F.A. Rueder in Halle, contains an article about the Anhalt-Koethen colony of Askanianova, situated in Tavrida guberniia. No. 49 of the same year contains a second article by Financial Privy Counsellor A. Behr under the title “Refutation and Correction.” We recognize that other well-informed neighbouring landowners may offer further corrections. We direct our attention only to a few points that affect us in particular. A statement on page 438 of the above-mentioned publication (Litt. e) describes the soil and climate as inimical to the growth of mulberry trees and hence of silkworms. It concludes that it would be an absurd undertaking, without purpose, to attempt to raise mulberry trees under these conditions. We can respond with the following information: The Molochnaia Mennonite District lies thirty-six verstas from the Askanianova settlement. We share the same climate and soil with it and have ventured to grow

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mulberry trees and raise silkworms. At present, this district has 66,322 individual mulberry trees already suitable for sericulture. The existence of these trees and the silk harvested (about four puds this year) and sold at an attractive price over a number of years provides sufficient evidence that the soil and climate here are not resistant to the cultivation of mulberry trees or silkworms and that this undertaking is therefore hardly absurd or without purpose. The Privy Counsellor for Finance is of course correct in saying that “mulberry trees are essential to the raising of silkworms.” If individuals make the effort to prepare the soil and plant mulberry seedlings as required, the results will indeed be rewarding. With respect to tree planting, the article on pages 438 and 439 states that willows and acacia are the only trees that thrive [in this area] and on page 440 that the cultivation of fruit trees and the development of orchards remain a matter of luxury for the distant future. This is not as has been proven in the Molochnaia. The wooded areas established here nine years ago contain not only willows and acacias, but also 3,474 oaks, twenty-eight common beeches, 5,863 birches, 531 alders, 28,932 ash trees, 24,048 maples, 27,412 elms, 5,536 lindens, 6,437 poplars, 1,531 wild olive trees, forty-six hornbeam trees, 2,381 service trees, 272 hawthorns, 109 chestnuts, and 1,224 pines (pinus Silvestrius) etc. All varieties are growing and thriving. Further evidence is provided by some of the large, beautiful fruit orchards in individual villages in our district, where a total of 110,145 trees are in place. There are an additional 78,369 improved two- and three-year-old trees in nurseries and 281,364 in seed nurseries. In addition to providing abundant fruit for household use in the year 1839, for example, they produced a cash income of 5804 rubles, 98 kopeks for fruit and 3796 rubles, 14 kopeks for trees. To the statement on page 440 that “the settlers [on the Molochnaia] have a beautiful, irrigating river, and fruitful soil,” we would, on the basis of personal observations, refute these rumours as follows. The river is not really beautiful and the water is not sufficiently abundant to ensure that field agriculture and the growing of forest and fruit trees, etc., will thrive better here than in the Askanianova settlement. It is not true that Askanianova must lag behind because we have more fruitful soil. We know the soil in Askanianova well and are absolutely convinced that if it were cultivated diligently, it could be as useful for the branches of economy mentioned above as is the soil on the Molochnaia steppes. The Financial Privy Counsellor ends his statement by saying that even in our area [of the Molochnaia] “we almost starved because of drought in the summers of 1833 and 1834.” In the interests of truth I

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would challenge the Financial Counsellor to identify even one family in a Mennonite village on the Molochnaia that suffered hunger during those years of crop failure, let alone “almost starved.” We thank God that after those dry summers, He permitted a succession of fruitful and blessed years to follow. But even if He had withheld His blessing longer, it would have been hard to find evidence of hunger, and even less of starvation in our midst. Our high authorities can provide irrefutable evidence that during those times of dearth, Mennonites, with their own means, strongly supported members of their communities in their distress as well as numberless Nogais, etc. From the Society. August, 1840. 345. District Office to Johann Cornies. 28 August 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/51. To the esteemed Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, The demand of Police Inspector Tverdokhlebov in Bolshoi Tokmak, requires you to pay nine rubles sixty-two kopeks silver to the District Office by the 31 August for land taxes on the land you own, covering the year 1840. This money must be forwarded to the Melitopol District Taxation Office in order that it may be reported to the Police Inspector. District Office in Halbstadt, 28 August 1840. District Deputy Braun. 346. Johann Cornies to District Office. 1 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/118. District Office in Halbstadt, In response to a summons, nine rubles sixty-two kopeks silver are enclosed as taxes on the land occupied [by me] on the Tashchenak, with a request that I be notified of its receipt. 347. Phillip Wiebe to [David] Epp, Khortitsa. 1 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/119v. Seventy-nine rubles and thirty and a half kopeks have been received for the sale of books of Holy Scripture. The surplus of sixty-two and a half kopeks appears as a credit. You will receive the accompanying crate marked D.E. containing seven Bibles for seven silver rubles, seventy kopeks, and nine Bibles for nine silver rubles, for a total of fifty-eight rubles, forty-five kopeks,

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plus ten New Testaments for twenty rubles and eighteen Bible stories at 105 kopeks for eighteen rubles, ninety kopeks. The final total is ninetyseven rubles, thirty-five kopeks. It was not possible to meet your wishes completely with respect to the Bibles, since the supply in the local depot was not sufficient, as is the case with New Testaments for one ruble eighty, of which there are only three or four left. They are preferred here as they are there. Mr. Cornies also requests that you kindly take the eighteen copies of Bible stories on consignment. Please notify my employer, who is cashier and depot director, about the receipt of the crate. With complete esteem, your servant Phillip Wiebe. 348. Abram Wiebe to Johann Cornies. 4 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/58. Esteemed Friend, I again urgently need 10,000 rubles for one to two months to enable me to purchase wheat quickly. If possible, I request that you kindly forward it to me with the carrier of this letter, Jacob Sudermann. I really would like to have half of it in gold, half in Banco, but would ask that it not be sent in large bills. With heartfelt greetings, I am your friend Abram Wiebe. 349. Peter Schmidt to Johann Cornies. 4 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/59. Dear friend Cornies, When I got home today, friend Sudermann told me that he was going to receive money for A. Wiebe from you. If you are able, I would request a loan of 5,000 to 6,000 rubles for an extended period of time. Should this not be possible, I would request that you notify me with this messenger. With friendly greetings, I remain your friend, Peter Schmidt. 350. Johann Cornies to Isbrand Riesen. 6 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/121v. To the Acting Manager of our establishment in Tashchenak, Isbrand Riesen, In transferring the management of our Tashchenak estate to you, I and my son appoint you as its actual manager. We do so with the confidence that, as a conscientious man, you will zealously endeavour to

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advance our interests, and improve the estate entrusted to you, making all of its sections and branches more productive. You should maintain its peace, order, and decorum and adorn it with cleanliness. With our confidence we affectionately remain your benevolent Johann Cornies and Son. 351. Isbrand Riesen to [Johann Cornies]. 10 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-645/61. Esteemed Sir, The well in the cattle barn measures twenty-three feet from its bottom to the surface of the covering floor. If you can, please send 500 rubles soon, instead of 200. Almost all funds here have been spent because two annual employees have been paid and there were some chumak payments to be made as well, etc.32 It must be expected that more chumak payments will be necessary over the next few days. I cannot send Mambet for the money because he is needed to maintain the peace and to prevent disorder. I enclose the account for the mill shaft. Your servant Riesen, Molochnaia Estate 352. Johann Cornies to Fedor Rosen. 16 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/123.33 Baron Rosen, On 10 September, the Iugasilamgale District Office in this Uezd sent Salzakai Shamenov to learn agriculture from me. He is eighteen years old, son of a Nogai in the village Kondshale. I kept him on my Iushanle estate as being suitable for this purpose. I now have three young men and two girls here for this purpose. 353. District Office to Johann Cornies. 18 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/65. To esteemed Johann Cornies, Ohrloff, You are hereby requested to give Jacob Tesmann from Landskrone, bearer of this note, the brown mare you found on your Iushanle estate 32 The chumaks were transporting salt – see SAOR 89-1-645, 18 August 1840. 33 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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on 31 August 1840. Kindly notify the District Office of this matter as soon as possible. Halbstadt, 18 September 1840. District Deputy Toews, District Office Secretary Sommerfeldt. 354. Johann Cornies to District Office. 19 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/123. District Office at Halbstadt, The three-year-old brown mare branded with the mark C on the right hind haunch, which was reported to you on 4 September, ran away from my herd of horses during the night of 18 to 19 September. No one knows where it went. 355. Johann Cornies to Peter Neufeld and Abraham Isaac. 20 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/123v. To the esteemed school supervisors of the Ohrloff Society School, Peter Neufeld in Ohrloff and Abraham Isaac in Tiege, Yesterday, 19 September, I travelled to Gnadenfeld on behalf of the Ohrloff School Society to request that the village community there release schoolteacher Franz [from his contract] in order that he might fulfil the vacant schoolteacher’s position in the Ohrloff Society School. In response to this request, the village community of Gnadenfeld declared that it could not release its schoolteacher Franz before the end of his contract as their children would then have no one to teach them. This confirms that schoolteacher Franz cannot be hired by the Ohrloff Society School before 1 January 1841 and he cannot assume his position in Ohrloff before 1 April. To the best of my knowledge, I am not aware of any other well-qualified teacher suitable for this position. It is likely that a teacher will not be found for the school until 1 April. It is therefore necessary to do an accounting for the school. I lack the authority to direct and make decisions in a matter in which the schoolhouse and its side buildings could be occupied and used to the advantage of the Society. Since money is required to repair the buildings, members of the Society must discuss this subject and decide it jointly. It should be noted that contributions from Society members for the support of the school and the salary of the teacher have stopped flowing into the Society’s treasury. I have been told that Teacher Heese wishes to give children private lessons on his own, using the school building for this purpose and also

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as his own dwelling this winter. In my opinion, he should be required to apply in writing to the Society members, declaring the conditions under which he would be inclined to use the school buildings for his purposes. A speedy decision on this matter is needed. I most urgently request that you, most honourable supervisors, make arrangements to this end. Respectfully, I remain your willing business manager, Johann Cornies. 356. Cornelius Wienss to Johann Cornies. 22 September 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/71. Treasured friend Johann Cornies, A little Russian girl, Vierka Selensheka from Mikhailovka, about twelve years old, has lived with us since January 1836. Almost frozen in the severe cold that winter, wearing poor clothing and covered with vermin, she became ill and could no longer go from door-to-door begging for her sustenance. Moved by Christian compassion, we have kept the poor child with us for almost five years, caring for her and training her. She is so well adjusted to us and our care that she does not want to leave. If the authorities were to allow her to stay, we would like to keep her in our service and continue to train her. I am approaching you with a request that, if you are prepared to show us your love, you might obtain an appropriate document from the authorities to permit this. I remain, your devoted Cornelius Wienss. 357. Bradke to Johann Cornies. October 1840. SAOR 89-1-658/18.34 Since His Highness, the Minister of State Domains, has asked for my views regarding the introduction of potato cultivation among state

34 Motivated by an empire-wide crop failure in 1839, in 1840 Nicholas I initiated a program to diversify food crops by promoting potato cultivation. Cornies was enlisted to oversee the program in the Molochnaia, and it is a recurring topic throughout the correspondence from this point forward. Regarding the potato program, see Staples, Cross-Cultural Encounters, 146–7, and TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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peasants, I would like to obtain information about the way in which this branch of field cultivation is being pursued in the Molochnaia villages. The best answers to the following numbered questions are most likely to come from you as an experienced agronomist, familiar with your local conditions. 1. On average, how many potatoes are seeded per soul, and what quantity of potatoes are needed annually to nourish a family of four souls? 2. On average, how much land is needed per soul to pursue potato cultivation? Are potatoes grown in gardens, on fields now assigned to each inhabitant, or on a community field? 3. Are potatoes used for purposes other than human consumption? What methods are used to ensure that potatoes have a market? 4. Do the settlers manure the land for potato cultivation? 5. Have inhabitants in neighbouring areas followed the example of your settlers by growing potatoes? Did they buy potatoes from you in years of crop failure? I am urgently in need of this information and would ask you to send it to me as soon as possible. Director von Bradke, Section Head.

358. Johann Cornies to District Office. 2 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/128. To the esteemed Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, According to his signed note of 21 February 1840, Heinrich Quiring, Conteniusfeld fullholder, borrowed sixty-nine rubles, seventy-five kopeks from me until 9 May 1840. I reminded him several times of his obligation to settle his debt, but Quiring failed to respond. When I was away on 24 September, Quiring appeared in response to my latest claim and left behind one ruble to reduce the mounting interest. He said that he could not repay the principal. For this reason, I would ask the esteemed District Office to demand that Heinrich Quiring repay the sum of money owing, sixty-nine rubles, seventy-five kopeks before long, even if it is paid to the District Office. I would not ask for any interest. The silver ruble in question can be deducted from the principal. Johann Cornies.

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359. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 5 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/128v. State Counsellor Steven, I was unable to find a good opportunity to send along the cheeses to Simferopol that you had ordered. Jacob Reimer, the Mennonite we both know, plans to leave here shortly and I will send the cheeses along with him. If it should not occasion too much effort on your part, I would ask that you obtain two chetverik of red beech seeds for seeding by our local inhabitants. Please pass them on to Jacob Reimer for transport to this area. He will be authorized to settle the charges incurred. I would in addition be most thankful if you would kindly purchase one pud alfalfa seed for me at some later time. Thank God that it rained heavily yesterday and today after a long period of drought. The soil is now moist to a depth of one foot and more. At the moment, we are having heavy thunder and lightning and rain is pouring down in torrents. Winter rye can now be sown. Wheat prices have fallen, with sixteen rubles paid for a chetvert of Hirka, fifteen for Arnautka. Grapes appeared in my vineyard at Tashchenak this year and they ripened completely. There were only a few, about twenty funt, but they gave me great pleasure. With constant respect, I endeavour to remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, J. Cornies. 360. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 7 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/129v.35 Mr. Baron, On 1 October, responding to a request from the Nogai village community of Koesoeldan Oglu, I travelled to the location intended for their new village to determine the construction site for each family as drawn by lot. My route led me through the Molokan village of Novovasilievka, where I was agreeably and pleasantly surprised to meet two Molokans from this village, Larion Voroshchev and Mikhail Andreev, who will each gain ownership of two desiatinas of land on which they intend to establish fruit orchards provided that they plant fruit trees 35 Regarding the efforts of the Molokans Andreev and Voroshchev to establish a tree nursery, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 263, 300, 333, 360, 466.

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according to established rules and regulations and keep them growing well. Despite the great drought and the dry soil, they have ploughed their entire parcel of land to a depth of eight vershok and encircled it with a ditch. More than 300 trenches of the required size are ready for tree planting. It gives me much pleasure to see that these good and industrious people are staunchly and actively endeavouring to fulfil their promises with great perseverance and without sparing any cost. Nor do they pay attention to the insults of their envious neighbours. To give these two Molokans even greater courage and zeal in pursuing these beginnings, it would have a positive effect if you, honoured Baron, were graciously to take a route through Novovasilievka during your first tour of this district and enter the home of even one of the men. They would treasure this honour highly and it would encourage them to increase their activity even more. In contrast, the village community’s plantation is still unworked except for a narrow strip of land ploughed in the centre of the plantation. No further preparations are visible and I am informed that few other measures, if any, have been taken to prepare for tree planting. It is my opinion that Yr. Honour could stimulate activity in this regard were you to make inquiries before beginning your journey about the extent to which this village community has prepared its plantation for tree planting. With the most genuine respect and devotion, I remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 361. Johann Cornies to Johann Wiebe (Neuteich, W. Prussia) 7 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/134v.36 Mr. Johann Wiebe in Neuteich [W. Prussia], Very dear and treasured friend, Your two communications of 28 August (new style), both with the same message, arrived in good order on 22 September and I hasten to reply. Important as it is to do what I can to further the happiness of my brethren in faith in Prussia, I still cannot petition the high Ministry about the five points submitted to me. They do not correspond in regard to the matters raised by the Minister himself: 36 Regarding the proposed immigration of Prussian Mennonites, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 266, 323, 324, 361, 392, 422, 447.

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1. You write that a large number of families cannot be expected to announce their emigration at one time. In accordance with the Minister’s resolution, a large number of immigrants is not desired. On the contrary, only a few families, perhaps a hundred or even fewer are wanted. We cannot count on a policy of unlimited immigration. This has never occurred since German colonists began immigrating to Russia after 1765. For each immigration, deputies appeared in St. Petersburg or in Russian embassies to bargain with the government about the number of families [to be considered], the land required for this number, and other conditions. 2. The government realized that, by assigning large districts of land to foreign settlers in advance, it was not reaching its objective of increasing population quickly and establishing agricultural trades in an exemplary, well-managed way. It therefore issued an ukaz in 1834 stating that future allocations [of land] could only be made in small parcels required by settlers for a house, garden, and enough land to maintain and support their families. Differences in climatic regions and the state of agricultural knowledge in these regions were also to be taken into account in allocating land. This ukaz has stimulated the settlement of poor German settlers. 3. To the best of my knowledge, no areas of land exist here [in New Russia] that would be suitable for useful model settlements. Land located in this region has already been allocated for the purposes of the government. Though it has pleased the Minister not to reveal where the Mennonite settlement under discussion might be, I believe it would be fairly close to us, perhaps in the Crimea. As you know, the Mennonite Privilegium extends over only the three [southern] guberniias [of Ekaterinoslav, Tavrida, and Kherson]. Otherwise, a request would be needed for a new Privilegium from the Tsar or an ukaz made at the highest level that would put Mennonites settled in other guberniias under the New Russian Privilegium. I doubt this will happen. 4. Although the Minister would like me to conduct correspondence about the matters under discussion, I think it would be more to the point if a number of our Prussian brethren in faith who wish to emigrate would send their own deputies directly to St. Petersburg. They could more easily discuss and decide all outstanding questions there. Abundant experience has taught me that very few foreigners, especially people of the land, have any knowledge of the Russian imperial

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government. The result can be much writing back and forth but without any guarantee that the desired objectives can be reached. This is another reason why I propose that a deputation go to St. Petersburg. I offer to conduct the correspondence regarding this matter myself. We have nothing to fear from a humane Prussian government that would not object if some of its subjects without citizenship obligations to fulfil (such as military service) were to send a deputation to Russia and if that deputation were to reach agreement on terms to which the Prussia government could not object. The situation would be otherwise if a group of excitable [Prussian] Mennonites were to seek emigration without valid reasons, knowledge of Russia, or any likelihood of making progress once there. To rule out anything of this sort authorities might well place obstacles in the path of enthusiasts desirous of emigration. I am sorry, dear friend, that I cannot do what you suggest. I can only repeat what I said to you earlier. No one should be offended if I, as a good citizen, observe the law to the letter. That law insists that “absolutely no methods of enticement be used to draw foreigners into the country.” In every way and situation and with the warmest feelings, I continue to be your faithful, unchanging friend, Johann Cornies. Most of the land between the Volga and the Akhtuba belongs to the privileged area granted to the Khoshut Kalmyk prince Tiumen. These rich grassy lowlands are fruitful specifically because of yearly flooding. I do not know whether there are any crownlands like this left. In the great [Kabardai] in the Caucasus, beside the mountain Beshtau and the colony Karass, about 6,000 uninhabited desiatinas of the most fruitful land areas on earth were still available a few years ago. Forests there are plentiful, as is brook and well water. There is an abundance of grass and grain and the region is so romantic that one can perhaps find its equal only in Italy. However, the neighbouring wild mountain inhabitants make it too unsafe for settlement. Also, there is still scattered empty crown land in the Crimea, about which I know very little. Still, even if land in this area is not terribly fruitful and productive, it is close to harbour cities where villagers can quickly turn produce into silver if they know how to manage their affairs properly. I am sure that you have read newspaper reports that all still uncultivated and unsettled crown lands in European Russia are to

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be surveyed, divided, and settled as quickly as possible. Jews from Livonia and Courland flock into Kherson guberniia, where they are directed to crown lands for settlement. Ukrainians have received permission to immigrate to the Abasis coast beside the Anaga. A decision has been made to settle no fewer than 500 retired military families among the defeated Circassians in the Caucasus. Also, all families with fewer than eight desiatinas of land for each revision soul may emigrate from guberniias in the Russian interior. There is much activity and movement everywhere, and people are drawing one another from their ancestral hearths. The Director of the Department of State Domains’ Bureau in Saratov Guberniia wrote to me that the government had decided to settle 200,000 families of Russian peasants in his guberniia in two years’ time. The number to be settled in Orenburg guberniia is equally large, or even larger. The stream of Russian emigrants to the Egerlik steppes in the Caucasus guberniias this side of Stavropol has been unbelievable in the last five or six years, and this continues. Since last year, a large number of Russian peasants from the Russian interior [have] found their way into our district, where they [have] sought permission to stay. Many of them have already been registered. When I consider the measures that the government is taking to populate uninhabited land in the Empire and how much immigration has increased the population of our surrounding Russian villages in the past two years (where there had previously been an excess of land), I doubt that there will be any uninhabited crown lands left in this guberniia in ten years’ time. I write to make it absolutely clear that the Russian Imperial administration is not concerned about drawing people from abroad simply to settle empty crown lands. It has enough native-born people to do this. It is principally concerned about good agriculturalists and industrious people who can serve as models, examples for Russian peasants, and, in this way, make themselves useful to the country. The old is disappearing. Everything is new. [Potential] immigrants need to know this, especially those sent to St. Petersburg as deputies. Let me repeat what I have said. If Prussian Mennonite communities want permission for numbers of them to immigrate into Russia, even if there are only thirty or forty families at the outset, it would still be worthwhile to send deputies directly to St. Petersburg first. I doubt permission can be obtained in any other way. Such an important matter needs to be discussed thoroughly. Moreover, the land the

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government proposes must then be inspected by the deputies on site, to see whether the location is advantageous and the soil of a quality that would allow settlers to keep promises made to the government and discharge the obligations they have assumed. Such an approach could accomplish something useful and might also benefit our Prussian brethren in future. Because this matter has already been broached in Petersburg, the deputies would not have to stay there for two years as did those for Khortitsa [several decades earlier], but only two to three weeks. Please examine everything, accept the best of it and kindly report your decision to me. Adieu, Johann Cornies. 362. Klaas Wiens to Johann Cornies. 11 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/113.37 Valued Friend Cornies, After returning home safely, I discussed with my son Peter the construction of a mill in Tambovka. He would like to undertake this project. He is of the opinion that the mill should be built with stone and brick since wood is not durable if it gets wet continuously and then dries out. Should Peter have a long life, he might well have to build the mill twice. If only he could accomplish his goal! Actually the mill could be built if the Doukhobors were to transport the stones cheaply. We have decided on stone, even though it seems that bricks, made nearby, would be easier to get. I cannot remain here any longer as my contract has ended, nor do I want to, but I have one more request. Can I definitely count on this project? I know you are burdened with business matters, but I do not know anyone else to whom I can turn. There is probably no one else to give me the information I need. I firmly hope that you will not be annoyed with me. I will also try at all times to keep you from being ashamed of me. I send you my esteem, love and good wishes, Klaas Wiens. Kremenchuk, 11 October 1840. Received 19 November 1840.

37 Regarding the project to build a mill in the Doukhobor village of Tambovka, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 362, 381, 386, 395.

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363. Johann Cornies to Blumenort Village Office. 14 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/141. In response to your request, you are hereby notified that the deceased Peter Neufeld of Blumenort borrowed 400 rubles from me on 11 September 1840 for four months at one-half percent to pursue his handicraft. Ohrloff, Johann Cornies. 364. J. Martens to Agricultural Society. 19 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-910/8.38 Report from Member J. Martens. In response to the Society’s inquiry No. 55 of 14 October about seeding and harvesting Whittington wheat, it soon became obvious that Whittington is not a summer but a winter wheat and should be seeded in fall. Despite dry summer months, at least half of this wheat growing on a raised loamy ridge, is still green. Under present highly fruitful weather conditions, one might express hope for a productive harvest next year, should there be no unfavourable dry winter frosts. At present the wheat is nice and green, with strong plants. Society Member J. Martens. 365. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 20 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/141v. Governor Muromtsev, Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, I was unable to respond to Yr. Excellency’s honoured communication of 9 August because I was waiting for forest-tree seeds to ripen. I can still send only two varieties, namely ash and white maple seeds. I will be happy to send you additional varieties of forest-tree seeds later this fall. These two varieties must be seeded immediately on well-prepared soil in one vershok deep trenches made across the bed. A one-quarter arshin layer of foliage, or even more, should then be laid over them. In March, the foliage must be cleared off carefully and the maples should come up vigorously. The ash will only come up during the second year, although plants often make their appearance during the first year. Johann Cornies.

38 Regarding Whittington wheat, see docs. 252, 364, 371, 378, 508.

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366. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 20 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/142v. Baron v. Rosen, Favouring me with special kindness and confidence, your letter not only obligates me to report the following, but puts the matter close to my heart. On 8 October, commissioned by the local district chief, I made the first arrangements to settle thirty-one peasant families from Semenovka village on their land where they will found a regular village as follows. I ordered all peasants from Semenovka who wished to resettle to appear at their place of settlement where construction sites had already been marked off by ploughed furrows following the [official] rules and regulations. I explained to them our humane government’s intentions to develop their village in a regular pattern as had their neighbours, the Mennonites, with all attendant advantages. They should also try to set up their fullholdings similarly, to the degree possible. I told them that I had been commissioned to advise them and, if they were of one mind, serve them as an adviser and leader during the construction and arrangement of their orderly fullholdings. They would also, with punctual obedience, have to follow regulations I might find necessary for the firm and enduring foundation of their well-being. Once they had unanimously agreed to this, I had the first rules necessary for the founding of an orderly settlement given to them. These they accepted, signing and confirming their complete and obvious satisfaction with handshakes. I sent the original document to the district chief and have the honour of sending Yr. Honour a copy.39 After this, construction sites were distributed by lot, and the name Fedorovka conferred upon the village. It was further decided that deputies be sent to the district adminstration in Orekhov. Commissioned by the community, they were to request that the district administration kindly make presentations to the appropriate authorities to exempt the settlers of Fedorovka as inhabitants of a regular village from all taxes and compulsory services during the three consecutive years necessary to construct and arrange their fullholdings. With this beginning, it is desirable that these settlers be supported, encouraged, protected, and effectively led. I remain convinced that this

39 This document is not extant.

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village will blossom in a few years’ time and become a model of order and diligence to the area. Johann Cornies. 367. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 20 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/144. Baron Rosen, A few weeks ago, the Nogai Ali Pasha brought me samples of two kinds of tobacco he had grown himself. Since I found its cultivation and preparation to be sound, I decided to submit samples of these two kinds of tobacco to you, for your judgment. I therefore have the honour of sending these samples to Yr. Honour in waxed linen marked A.P. Johann Cornies. 368. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 22 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-661/3. Best of friends, Do not be displeased that I have delayed answering your letter for so long. The responsibilities of my service and my frequent travels over considerable distances are really the only causes. I think of your villages every time I arrive in any village on my journeys. This happens frequently, since there are a hundred and two villages in this guberniia. Each time I feel regret that there are no Mennonites here, and no local Cornies. There are rich people living in large houses but they make no effort and have no zeal to advance agriculture and plantations in a way that would improve the well-being of the surrounding population. Many villages deteriorate before my eyes. The Director of the Third Department, von Bradke, understands the dilemma. He and I speak about you often. The crop of summer grains here is good. Only rye failed. Mr. Bradke also understood how well-founded your opinions are about the necessity and usefulness of founding a craftsman’s village in your area.40 It is, however, his opinion that it would be better to found such a place in the middle of your district and not at Halbstadt. Please let me know how this matter now stands, and if your committee has made its final presentation regarding this matter in Petersburg. My 40 Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 10, and docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499.

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concern is to ensure that this presentation has been thoroughly and fully put together. I am curious whether our good Martens has come back safely from the spa and if his health has improved, which I wish him from the bottom of my heart. May you fare well. Do write whether your harvest had been completed and to your advantage. Are grain prices high in your area? Heartfelt greetings to your good wife. When are you thinking of marrying off your children? Your always devoted, A. Fadeev. 369. Inspector for the Colonies of the Second District Pelekh to the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office. 23 October 1840. SOAR 89-1-725/22. The Guardianship Committee for Foreign Colonists in South Russia responds to a report from the Muensterberg Village Office, dated 18 September 1840, that the Village Office, in reacting to directives from me and the District Office, refused to send former Muensterberg Village Mayor Johann Klassen to [do community] work. The reason given is that, according to the Mennonite faith, one brother cannot punish another. When someone transgresses, he must be reported to the spiritual leadership. It will then, before [further] steps are taken, consult [with the civil authority] about the reprimand and instruction to be given the offender. In No. 4633 of 11 October, [a directive] was sent to the Muensterberg District Office regarding its failure to follow my orders and the orders of the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office to send former mayor Johann Klassen to do community work. It was a severe reprimand issued for his failure to carry out directives on various subjects of the Mennonite Society for the Advancement of Agriculture and Trades and by the District Office. The Mayor and Village Office were also to be punished with a five Ruble Banco Assignat payment that was to be assigned to the benevolent fund. The village Elders should know that if, in future, they are obstinate and disobedient they will be severely dealt with to the full extent of the law. The Mennonite Klassen, however, must be arrested by persons sent by the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office for his failure to do work that he was specifically ordered to do. He must also be ordered to do an additional two days of work because of his failure to cooperate with duly constituted authority.

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The District Office is duly informed that the Muensterberg Village Office has been apprised of this matter and ordered to publicize it in the villages, namely that the [former] Mayor has received a severe punishment for not carrying out administrative orders plus a further two days of punitive work. This is done lest other Mennonites think that, on grounds of their religious rights, government authorities are not entitled to punish them. 23 October 1840. Original was signed by Inspector of the Colonies Pelekh. (Copy of an order by District Chairman Regier) To the Village Offices. Order. Reference is made to the administrative action published earlier about the punishment meted out to Johann Klassen, the former village mayor in Muensterberg. After Klassen and the Muensterberg Village Office refused to submit to duly authorized administrative action, a directive was repeatedly received from the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia and from the Colonial Inspector. It spells out in greater detail the measures required to fulfil administrative orders. In sending village offices an accurate copy of the abovementioned directive, the District Office directs that this order and the above-mentioned copy be entered into the journal of regulations. It must then be forwarded to the next address. All inhabitants must be forcefully informed of this matter, to impress upon them the fact that, in transgressions of a similar nature in future, they are to consider this as a guideline according to which the higher authorities will proceed with strict legal measures. The pretext of the Muensterberg Village Office in this matter, that our confession of faith does not recognize the punishment of one of our disobedient members, can absolutely not be applied here. On the contrary, it contradicts our confessions of faith and our principles. As is generally known, we recognize an authority over us and should conduct ourselves accordingly as peace-loving and obedient subjects. It is therefore necessary that village offices teach every inhabitant not to believe such unsubstantiated prejudice that originates in malice and obstinacy and emphasize that we must give the authorities unqualified obedience in accordance with our principles and our confession of faith. Contrary-wise, the disobedient will be dealt with according to the full severity of the law. Village offices are, in particular, subject completely to the local secular authority. They must watch zealously to maintain the orderliness

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and moral behaviour [of inhabitants] in villages for which they are responsible and report to the District Office anyone who violates this rule and fails to follow to the letter the directives of the authorities. Prompt attention must be paid to this directive. District Office in Halbstadt, 9 November 1840. Original was signed by District Chairman Regier and Deputy Toews. 370. David Voth to Johann Cornies. 30 October 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/91. Sincerely beloved Brother Cornies, Since the loan period for my debt has expired, I arrived here today at noon to ask you earnestly to extend my loan by several months. I have left behind at your place the interest due, namely forty-six rubles, forty-four kopeks. I seriously wanted to talk to you, and waited around until nine in the evening when pressing matters did not permit me to stay overnight. I have several reasons for requesting an extension. In the first place, the merchant Tarchovo sternly warned me to pay off my debt to him. Because he needed the money and I could not get rid of him, I paid him all that I could raise. I have also extended loans to several people who cannot repay them. I travelled around for days, but collected little. Everyone complained that they had not yet received payment for their wheat. I will come back soon. Please do not reject my request. With hope, your loving friend, David Voth. 371. Johann Regier to Agricultural Society. 4 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-910/7.41 To the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture and Trades in Ohrloff, Report from Johann Regier, Schoensee, the Society Chairman’s First Colleague, In answer to the Society’s communication No. 83 of 20 December 1839 and communication No. 56 of 14 October 1840, I have the honour to report regarding the seeding and harvesting of Whittington wheat, Hamala barley, and other varieties of grain seed that it has received. On 21 April 1840, all foreign grain and barley seeds sent to me with communication No.83 were seeded on well-prepared land. Only two 41 Regarding Whittington wheat, see docs. 252, 364, 371, 378, 508.

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varieties came up, specifically Whittington wheat and Hamala barley. The wheat ripened and on 21 July I pulled out a few blades and rubbed the grain ears together. Because of a long drought in spring, it returned only the amount seeded and provided few good kernels. Still green, the barley was largely consumed by birds, producing little more than what was seeded. The other varieties of seeds did not come up at all. I have still not decided whether seeding should be done in autumn or in spring. I believe, however, that autumn seeding might enable the wheat to grow better in our region because the seed kernels could absorb sufficient moisture in winter. This would likely make for a better development of roots under conditions of a rainless spring or of drying winds that parch the soil. Johann Regier 372. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 6 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-658/10. Dear Mr. Cornies, I always read your communications with great pleasure. I offer you my warmest thanks for your influence in promoting the speedy development of the state peasantry. Your advice and example are thorough and enduring and of special value to these people. They help them to move ahead in the useful endeavours they have already begun. After receiving your report of 20 October about Fedorovka, the new village to be established, I am again moved to say how much I value everything you do to promote the interests of our state peasants. Please continue to use your good influence to promote active and useful lives for these people. Be assured that while I follow your activities, they are also observed at a higher level, as they should be. Let me assure you that I will be pleased to do everything in my power for Fedorovka. Please continue to do the good work you have begun. With constant best intentions, Baron F. Rosen. 373. Molochnaia District Office to Ohrloff School Society. 6 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/101. In response to Inspector Pelekh’s order No. 1751 of 4 November, the enclosed form is sent to the Society in order that it might record the

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names of teachers in the Ohrloff Society School for the year 1840. The Society is requested to prepare an exact record according to this form and submit it to the District Office by 13 November. District Office in Halbstadt, 6 November 1840. District Deputy Braun, District Office Secretary Hamm. Reported 11 November 1840. 374. Gerhard Enns and J. Martens to Agricultural Society. 8 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-910/12.42 To the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture and Trades, Declaration regarding the potatoes used in our households to feed four persons, and as seed. We also specify the garden space, well worked with a spade, that is required to grow these potatoes. 1.

2.

3.

In one year four persons need two chetvert, six chetverik, two garnitz potatoes for their own consumption and as seed for 180 square feet of land (or thirty fathoms). Twelve plants, each using two or three potatoes, are set on each square fathom, i.e. three hundred and sixty plants on 180 square feet of land. Calculated on the basis of the ten immediately following years, each plant produces a half garnitz of potatoes, on average. Therefore, five chetverik, four and one-half garnitz is estimated for each person.

If estimates are done by weight, one garnitz of potatoes weighs five funt. Therefore, for every day, nineteen and five-ninths loth43 are consumed and seeded per person and twenty-two puds, fourteen funt are needed yearly for four persons.

42 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699. 43 The “loth,” a measurement in use in the German states, varied from place to place but usually was equivalent to around 15 grams.

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375. J. Martens to Johann Cornies. 8 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-910/14.44 My calculations about the seeding of potatoes needed annually for consumption by four persons are as follows: 1. Twenty garnitz are needed to seed twenty-five square fathoms of deeply and well worked garden soil, estimated at thirty plants per square fathom. 2. Four chetvert of potatoes are harvested from such a plot annually, estimated at one-third garnitz per plant. 3. If one garnitz per person is needed for weekly consumption, then four persons together need three and one-quarter chetvert annually. Accordingly, from four chetvert of potatoes three-quarter chetvert remain as a surplus.

376. Johann Cornies to Pastor Grunauer (Sarepta). 12 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/148. Most worthy and highly esteemed Pastor, I received your esteemed communication of 30 September and am honoured to answer, as requested. Milk cows of exactly the same breed as those bought here by the Sarepta brethren a few years ago can still be purchased here annually. Their price, according to the quality and quantity of their milk production, is from eighty to one hundred and twenty rubles. I cannot tell you exactly how many head of such cows will be available for sale, but I believe that in April and May one hundred head could easily be available. In general, every inhabitant of our forty-two villages has cattle of this breed and a purchase of this number must be accomplished by travelling around to each village.

44 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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With complete esteem, I have the honour to remain your humble servant, Johann Cornies. 377. Johann Cornies to Bradke. 15 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/156.45 State Counsellor Bradke, In response to Yr. Excellency’s gracious invitation No. 8540 of 8 October 1840 requesting answers to five questions about the management of potato cultivation in the Molochnaia colonies, I have the honour to report as follows: 1. The quantity of potatoes sown here does not exceed an average of just over two chetverik per soul, male and female. Potato cultivation cannot spread further because of a shortage of able-bodied hands. In Molochnaia Mennonite villages, experience shows that the annual requirement for potatoes to feed a family of four souls, when added to flour, meat, and milk dishes, can be estimated to be no higher than two and one half chetvert. Average use among the Molochnaia [German] colonists is three and one eighth chetvert. In Josephsthal, near Ekaterinoslav, the colonists must subsist on potato cultivation, due to a shortage of land and because of sandy soil. There, five chetvert are estimated for a family of four persons that has few other means of nourishment. In Landsberg district on the Warthe, in Brandenburg province, Kingdom of Prussia, where peasants eat potatoes three times a day, experience shows that it is necessary to provide ten Berlin sheffels or two and one half chetvert potatoes per year to nourish each person, whatever his age or household position. 2. To cultivate two and one-half chetvert of potatoes for every soul in a garden, ninety-four square fathoms are sufficient when potatoes are set every twelve to thirteen vershok. However, on a cultivated field, potatoes are set at intervals of eighteen vershok and one hundred and twenty-five square fathoms of land are required. In our villages, some potatoes are cultivated in gardens beside every house but most are grown on a field designated for each settler [family]. Communities here do not cultivate potatoes on communal fields.

45 Ibid.

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3. In addition to providing human nourishment, some potatoes are sold, but the largest portion is used for livestock fodder, especially among Mennonites. There is no secure means of marketing potatoes at this time, other than by fattening livestock with them, and this, whenever there is a large surplus of potatoes, could continue to be most advantageous and secure in future as well. 4. Settlers generally manure the soil in their gardens to cultivate potatoes. On cultivated fields not every settler manures the soil because of a shortage of manure. 5. Inhabitants of several neighbouring villages have followed the example of our settlers by cultivating potatoes, but only in their gardens. Neighbouring Russians and Nogais regularly buy potatoes in our villages to use as nourishment, not only in years of crop failure but every year. Johann Cornies. 378. Johann Cornies to Ministry of State Domains. 15 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/156v.46 To the Third Department of the esteemed Ministry of State Domains, In response to the Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains’ gracious communication No. 8094 of 24 September, I have the honour to report about the disposition of one funt of Whittington wheat sent to me last year, 1839. I seeded one half immediately after its receipt on 5 October 1839, and the other half on 17 April 1840 using four sites differing in the nature of their soil, specifically: 1. on clear, black soil; 2. on black soil mixed with sand; 3. on clay soil mixed with black soil; and 4. on soil with a high clay content. The results are as follows: The autumn seeding sprouted well and we expected a good harvest. Snowless winters and persistently heavy frost often detrimentally affect winter seeding in this region, as they did last winter, and the sprouts of Whittington wheat were totally destroyed. The spring seeding germinated just as well and formed splendid plants. On clay soil mixed with black earth, several stalks shot up but formed ears late and in pairs, providing few good kernels. The other seeds formed no stalks and remained close to the ground like grass, without further development. The stalks of seeds sown on black soil dried up during the

46 Regarding Whittington wheat, see docs. 252, 364, 371, 378, 508.

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drought and heat of June, while seeds sown on black soil mixed with sand lasted longer, but many plants still failed. Seeds sown on soil with a high clay content lasted the best. If the soil here is covered with even a light snow blanket a few inches in depth next winter, the harvest could be high next year, especially for seed sown on clay soil. I will have the honour of submitting a report about this matter at the appropriate time. According to my observations, I conclude that Whittington wheat is a winter and not a summer variety of grain. Johann Cornies. 379. Johann Cornies to Ministry of State Domains. 15 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/159v. To the same Third Department, In response to the Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains’ gracious communication No. 6491 of 5 October 1839, I have the honour to report about eight varieties of foreign wheat, two of barley, one bottle-gourd, and one variety of cabbage that were sent to me. They were all seeded on well-prepared soil on 17 April 1840. Not one single sprout appeared of any of the wheat varieties, nor of the first variety of barley. Presumably these grain varieties lost their ability to sprout on the journey. The Hamala barley sprouted and yielded the same amount sown, but the incomplete maturity of these kernels made them unsuitable for seeding. The bottle-gourd sprouted, grew long vines, and blossomed until October but set no fruit. The cabbage grew into a plant similar to mustard, blossomed, and grew seeds. It seems to have no special qualities that would provide a tasty and nourishing food to improve on local varieties of cabbage. Johann Cornies. 380. Johann Cornies to Steven. 17 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/151.47 State Counsellor Steven, In response to Yr. Honour’s well-inclined communication No. 497 of 28 October, I have the honour to most respectfully answer the seven questions relating to potatoes that were sent to me: 1. A few peasants in some Russian villages in the neighbourhood of our villages cultivate potatoes, but not enough for their household 47 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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needs. The Russian peasants annually buy a large number of potatoes in the Molochnaia villages. 2. In Mennonite villages, potato cultivation is not limited to household use as food for humans. Many potatoes are sold but most are used as livestock fodder, especially for cattle, to increase milk yields and to improve the growth of young cattle. Other settlements on the Molochnaia only cultivate enough potatoes to supply the amount needed for human consumption in a year. The highest price for potatoes over the last twelve to fifteen years, the drought year of 1833 excepted, was twelve rubles per chetvert, the lowest four rubles. 3. How many potatoes does a family consisting of four persons need for a year if it has almost no other nourishment? This is a question I am not in a position to answer. I also have no explanation for the assumption that potatoes are only supposed to be one-quarter as nourishing as wheat, making it necessary to provide twelve chetverts of potatoes to nourish one person annually. In my opinion this estimate is much too high, because one chetvert of medium-sized potatoes weighs ten puds and contains 4,800 potatoes. Thus twelve chetverts would weigh 120 puds and contain 57,600 potatoes, providing ten puds or 4,800 potatoes for every month and thirteen and one third funt or 160 potatoes for every day in a month of thirty days. It seems to me that it is impossible for one person to consume fifty-three and one-third potatoes the size of a hen’s egg at each of three meals a day. In Molochnaia Mennonite villages, when combined with flour, meat, and milk dishes, the average annual potato consumption by a family of four souls is generally considered to be no higher than two and one-half chetverts. The Molochnaia [German] colonists consider the amount to be three and one eighth chetverts. In Josephsthal near Ekaterinoslav, where the colonists are mostly occupied with potato cultivation because of their sandy soil and shortage of land, they must also use them for nourishment. Their exact estimate for a poor family of four persons that rarely enjoys a little bit of meat, is five chetvert potatoes and ten chetveriki of rye. In Brandenburg province in Royal Prussia, in Landsberg district on the Warthe, families of poor peasants and labourers eat potatoes three times a day and this is almost their sole nourishment. Here, peasants have found from experience that ten Berlin Scheffel or two and one half chetvert of potatoes are needed to satisfy every person of all sizes in every domestic position. This provides one person with two and one half puds, or 1000 potatoes per month, two and four fifths funt or thirty-three and one third potatoes for one day, so that almost

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one funt, or something more than eleven potatoes, are available to be eaten at every one of three meals a day. It seems to me that this quantity is the most accurate and also the most acceptable for the Russian peasants. I doubt that it is possible for a human being to live only on potatoes and on no other nourishment, without finding that his health and physical strength suffer. 4. In order to cultivate such a quantity of potatoes in a garden, 375 square fathoms of land are sufficient, even if it is not manured, but is dug deeply using a spade, and the potatoes are not set into the ground any later than 100 days after 1 January. Two chetvert, two chetverik seed are needed for 375 square fathoms, which would produce ten chetvert, even if only an eightfold return is calculated. Using the potato cultivation method introduced in gardens here, seed is set in twelve to thirteen vershok squares, fifteen to sixteen plants in every square. It can be estimated that eight chetvert of hen’s-egg-sized potatoes are needed to seed one desiatina. However, on fields cultivated with a plough, potatoes are set at intervals of eighteen vershok, with about eleven plants in one square fathom, and five and one half chetvert are estimated to seed one desiatina. The return for field potatoes, if the field is given good, purposeful attention, is really the same as that in individual gardens. Generally, however, potatoes succeed better in gardens, where they are close to the family and can be given better care. For this reason, I believe it would be more to the point if potato cultivation in the Russian villages were not introduced on fields. Instead, potato cultivation should first be established in gardens or in areas lying close to villages. It is not unusual here to harvest 100 chetvert potatoes from one desiatina. This was a bad year for potatoes and yet I harvested forty chetvert from one desiatina, although the yield was 110 chetvert in 1838. However, to make them thrive, a great deal still depends on the good preparation and management of the soil and of the potatoes while they are growing. I am also of the opinion that similar quantities of land sown with potatoes provide twice as much nourishment as when sown with wheat. Two chetverik of wheat are sown on 1 morgen or 300 square rods, obtaining a twelvefold harvest in good years, or twenty-four chetverik. If twenty-three chetverik of potatoes are set out on the same quantity, 1 morgen of potato land, an eightfold return is obtained even in a very moderate potato year, which amounts to 184 chetverik. Potato returns are estimated to be from six- to twenty-fold here. 5. At this time, very few potatoes or none at all are shipped to Berdiansk and Taganrog from our villages and I do not know if any potatoes are

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shipped from these harbour cities. The best means of turning a surplus of potatoes into silver is to use them as livestock fodder. I have fattened oxen with them, including four head this year. Extremely thin when brought into my barns, they eventually produced a total of fourteen puds of tallow. Their meat is very tasty and the tallow somewhat soft. 6. In gardens, potatoes are set using a spade and are also dug up with a spade. Out on the fields, they are set using a marker and a mounding plough. The marker designates the spots where the potatoes should be set, the mounding plough covers them with soil. This plough is also used to weed fields and mound potatoes two or three times during the summer, depending on the weather. A two-pronged vine-dressing hoe is used to lift the potatoes. A man thrusts the hoe into the soil in front of the potato plant and drags the plant and its tubers out of the ground with one stroke. Then the potatoes are gathered up by hired women and children. One man with one of these hoes can provide work for twenty or more potato gatherers. 7. & 8. In my opinion, the purpose of introducing potato cultivation and making it more general among Russian peasants would best be served by the following. A suitable piece of land should be designated for potato cultivation in every village. It should be large enough to provide for the number of inhabitants in the village and it must have the qualities that will make it possible for potatoes to thrive without employing a great deal of effort. The land could even be in several spots, as long as they are close to the village. These areas must be enclosed by ditches and apportioned by lot to each soul, preferably to each family, and this allotment should be maintained forever. Community seeding would be contrary to the purpose because this would cause argument and strife, most detrimental to the peasants’ agricultural management, and give rise to more extortions of money by lower officials. Johann Cornies. 381. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 18 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/161v.48 Baron Rosen, There are absolutely no mills in the Nogai district, which is a great drawback for the Nogais as they attempt to improve their households

48 Regarding the project to build a mill in the Doukhobor village of Tambovka, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 362, 381, 386, 395.

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and advance their well-being. For more than twenty years, I have been preoccupied with the thought of finding the possibility to introduce good, properly functioning mills in order to improve the Nogais’ domestic situation and make better nourishment available to them. I have persuaded one of my brothers, Heinrich Cornies, to build a water mill in the middle of the Nogai district, with two or three good mill runs. He will do this on specific terms and on condition that he move there himself to give the Nogais practical examples in improved field cultivation and tree planting while he is managing his mill business. Also, I have found a prosperous industrious Mennonite to build a mill at the village of Tambovka, using stone and brick in its construction. He is a man who will carry out the duties to which he is obligated punctually and conscientiously and will be a model of orderly, ethical behaviour, something the Doukhobors need so much. He and his son-in-law thoroughly understand all branches of practical field cultivation, both having arrived recently from Prussia, where they learned to practise agriculture advantageously, according to the improved methods employed there. I have also submitted these two subjects to the Uezd supervisor, but he is so busy that I am afraid that developments in this matter could take some time. If there is a long wait, these men might seek different sources of income in our settlements, especially since neither my brother nor the other Mennonite has a fullholding at this time. Winter is also the best time to make the arrangements for construction to begin as soon as spring arrives. Work could continue in summer and the mills would be ready by fall. I humbly request that Yr. Honour inform me to whom, by name, we must apply, to ensure that this matter is negotiated and settled quickly. I just learned that the Doukhobors may have leased the mill site at Tambovka to a Mennonite resident of Kremenchuk for a twenty-year term, but that the mill will be constructed with wood, not stone. In my opinion, this would not be useful for the community. I do not know if this Mennonite can serve as an example to the Doukhobors in economic matters or if he can raise the required security. 382. Johann Cornies to Mathias. 28 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/164. Dear Mr. Mathias in Berdiansk, Almost eleven months ago you obtained a four-month loan of 4000 rubles from me. You have now been sent two requests to repay the

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above-mentioned loan but without results. I again request politely but urgently, that you pay this sum to the bearer of this letter, my neighbour Johann Neufeldt, and settle the matter in return for a receipt. I assume that this will definitely occur. If you postpone repayment any further, I would be forced to refuse any services of this nature in the future, although I would find it difficult to cause you such unpleasantness. In expectation of prompt repayment and the maintenance of friendly connections, I remain, with a greeting, your friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 383. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 29 November 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/164v. Yr. Honour, State Counsellor Fadeev, On 2 November, I received your gratifying letter of 22 October. As I begin my letter, I must repeat that I value Yr. Honour highly in a special way and that my love for you will remain unchanged in all of the ups and downs of life. Granted, you have heard this said often enough, but it gives me a real sense of well-being to frequently remind upright persons, worthy of high esteem, about these pleasant sentiments. Since you are a person with delicate feelings, you can impossibly remain indifferent to the recognition and honour given your merits and your amiable qualities by others, as humble as these persons may be. My heart and my honesty will serve as your guarantee that my expressions are not the deceitful flatteries so current in the world. I feel especially fortunate because you perpetually honour me with the totally undeserving kindness of your friendship. This makes me contented, and I feel that I need not hesitate to report quite openly about our local area. It is gratifying to see that significant and increasingly visible progress is being made in our villages every year. Field cultivation is the basis around which all trades now revolve. It provides many benefits to the inhabitants and occupies many human hands, thereby increasing our prosperity continuously. Scattered through our Mennonite villages are already individual agriculturalists who apply insight and effort and know how to prepare their fields as well as the best agriculturalists in Germany. For example, there are two individuals in Ohrloff who harvested a twenty-two-fold return from their wheat this year. In comparison, others in Ohrloff had eighteen-, twelve- and eleven-fold returns. These two individuals were the best this year and had also obtained the largest return from their fields in other years. The proverb “the deeper a peasant plows, the higher he will rise, and the more he turns up the soil,

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the more implements he uses,” can be applied to them. On the whole, this was a moderately good year for grain. All field crops turned out well except rye. I cannot yet cite precisely how much wheat was sold to Berdiansk this year from the Mennonite villages, but the quantity was definitely not less than 25,000 chetvert at an average price of seventeen rubles [per chetvert]. Sheep breeding has fared badly for several years and sickness swept away many thousands of sheep. Things are better now but wool prices have suffered a great decline. In Romen, prices were twenty-six to twenty-nine rubles per pud for washed wool. On the other hand, dairying is increasing with the sale of butter and cheese. I believe that this year’s sales from our villages were valued at about 100,000 rubles. Horse breeding produces little income. Horses have lost the quality and form they once had, which can be blamed on excessive sheep breeding. Now, interest in improving horse-breeding is evident in efforts to return our horses to the quality they once had. New trades arise annually, while trades more dependent on home industry are in the process of development, increasingly binding our inhabitants to their house and land. It seems to me that this is the only way that an agriculturalist can live happily and base his existence on morality and propriety. We have heard nothing more about establishing a settlement for craftsmen beside Halbstadt, but we know that these professionals would like to have this village confirmed soon.49 Unless this craftsmen’s village is established in the middle of the district, it will fail to fulfil its objective of keeping the craftsmen busy and providing for their maintenance. Halbstadt is now the specific location where many roads intersect, and since many people meet there, it is already busier than any other village. Also, in considering communications with the villages above the Molochnaia, Halbstadt is situated at the centre of our district. Mr. Evdokimov was commissioned by the Guardianship Committee to come to this region to examine the usefulness of establishing a craftsmen’s settlement. He was here in August 1839 and took all these points into consideration for a presentation about it in Petersburg. I do not know whether such a presentation was made or if it was drawn up in sufficiently thorough detail to make it advantageous for

49 Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, note 10, and docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499.

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this region. It would be most desirable to have this matter resolved soon to end the present uncertainty for our poor professionals. I most urgently request that Yr. Honour do whatever it is possible for you to do in this matter. Martens returned from the baths, though he is no better or worse than he was when he left. He is now preoccupied with a situation that is just as irksome as one he had ten years ago. As you remember, at that time he sold his iron business in Tokmak during an attack of hypochondria and then he regretted it and the sale had to be reversed. He sold his watermill this time and now wishes to retrieve it. Neither his family nor the community can permit this, since the purchaser does not want to give it back. The Society for the Dissemination of Plantings and Advancement of Agricultural Trades is still standing firmly on two feet. Without wavering or staggering, it continues to introduce everything it possibly can to improve and establish industry on a firm and enduring foundation. Although it had not expected to, it can take pleasure in seeing the fruits of its labours. This is encouraging, giving it perseverance and zeal to think of more good things and improvements. To be sure, it consists of only four members, but they are inspired by the best convictions and intentions for the well-being of their community. Their activity, zeal, and their continuing projects have brought them the community’s esteem and respect. As industrial activity increasingly animates our villages, our Russian and Nogai neighbours also show a desire to change and improve their households. In addition to seven Nogai villages just beginning to build and make agricultural arrangements according to a regular design based on the Nogai model village of Akkerman, a Russian village fifteen verstas from Altonau has decided to follow this example and build according to a regular design next spring.50 Appropriate arrangements for this have already been completed. Yr. Honour’s continuing kind sympathy for the happiness of our family and household and your loving questions asking how soon I will marry off my children, encourage me to tell you trustingly that Mennonite practice does not allow parents to marry off their children. One of our principles is not to attempt to arouse a desire to marry in our children. They are permitted to make their own decisions whether

50 Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, note 12, and docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610.

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they want to marry. The blame for an unhappy marriage, should this occur, is then not attributed to the parents. This makes it much easier to assist them and lead them back to a peaceful marriage. When they want to marry, it is their duty to inform their parents about the person to whom they are inclined. They must ask for parental advice in this matter and follow it. May you continue to favour me with your active benevolence, as I remain, with unbounded esteem and deepest respect, Yr. Honour’s most devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 384. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 2 December 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/169. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Your esteemed communication of 21 October arrived on 21 November. It truly is a long time since I wrote to you but do not assume that this was due to indifference or negligence. My outside business affairs kept me from maintaining an exchange of letters with dear friends like you and many others. I flatter myself with the hope that your kind heart, which I know well, will spare me and not receive my absence unkindly. Even though food shortages are generally harsh in the guberniias situated in the interior and are causing business to stagnate, agriculture is flourishing here and crafts are proceeding with great vigour. Only the wool business is quiet. At this time of year, a large number of peddlers usually buy up sheepskins for a wide range of prices, but none at all have appeared this year. Prospects for the next shearing seem to be good. The sheep are healthy and promise a rich return. I have always delivered my wool to you on consignment with complete confidence, leaving its sale to be decided completely according to your best insights. It would never occur to me to permit you to assume the loss when the manufacturer to whom you sold my wool advantageously becomes unable to make his payments, and I am certainly not inclined to do so now. This would be unjust on my part. I am completely convinced by the many years that we have had a trusting business relationship that you will continue to promote my business interests as realistically as if they were yours. Therefore, I will be contented if you decide it is more advantageous to keep my wool in storage for another three or four months or even longer to enable you to complete a better, more secure sale. On the other hand, I will also be

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contented if you do not anticipate better, higher prices, and decide to sell the wool soon in the most profitable, advantageous sale you can make, for cash or for future payment. I assure you that I will not cause you any difficulties. I report that the meteorological instruments were received from the Russian carter. They are all in good condition, as is the small case with seventy-five copies of children’s books. We were all truly interested in your friendly announcement that your eldest spinster daughter, Emilie, has entered into a matrimonial union. May our generous God bless the marriage with many joyful days. May he provide strength and solace in pain and sorrow and give them the hope that their temporal life cannot equal what blessed eternity holds for us all when it eventually comes. In friendship, I request that you give your newly-wed children friendly and heartfelt greetings from all of us. I commend myself and those who are mine to you and your dear wife and children for your future loving remembrance in friendship. In all circumstances of life, with my whole heart and soul, I remain, as always, your Johann Cornies. 385. Johann Cornies to District Office. 2 December 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/171. District Office in Halbstadt, Several inhabitants of this district who borrowed money from me for their own use absolutely refuse to respond to my written reminders and I find it necessary to complain to the esteemed District Office with the humble request that it kindly collect the monies listed below and forward them to me: 1. Claas Wiebe, Tiege. Eight rubles, forty kopeks, no interest. 2. Aron Peters, Ruekenau. Fifty-two rubles, twenty-eight kopeks at six percent annually starting on 2 January 1840 (account settled until then). 3. Gerhard Schierling, Fuerstenwerder, fifty rubles, fifty-seven and a half kopeks at six percent annually since 21 February 1840 (account settled until then). Expecting an early resolution, the esteemed District Office’s respectful Johann Cornies.

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386. Johann Cornies to unidentified correspondent. 5 December 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/171v.51 Dear Fr., In response to a letter from Claas Wiens in Kremenchuk about the mill site near Tambovka, I request that you report to Fr. Regier that the recently arrived foreigner, Abram Sudermann, is applying to me to take over and build up the mill site according to requirements of the Department of State Domains. He states that he has sufficient cash on hand to do so. Some time has passed since I submitted Abram Sudermann’s application to the Uezd Domains Administration and to the Tavrida State Domains Bureau and I await a resolution with every mail. In my view, Sudermann might be better qualified for this than Wiens. He has sufficient means to build the mill and to set it up according to the government’s requirements. Most important, the government wishes to have the family settling with the Doukhobors to be a model of propriety and moral behaviour. Even though I cannot mention anything improper about Wiens, it still seems to me that Sudermann’s family is more suitable to improve the community’s reputation. Wiens has never acted in a way that suggests that he has a sense of community. I am sending back the letter from Claas Wiens. With a friendly greeting, your friend, Johann Cornies. 387. District Office to Johann Cornies. 11 December 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/128. To esteemed Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, In response to your petition of 2 December 1840, this District Office has sternly urged your debtors Clas Wiebe in Tiege, Aron Peters in Ruekenau, Gerhard Schierling in Fuerstenwerder, and Heinrich Quiring in Conteniusfeld to pay their debts. In no case was it possible for these persons to pay immediately but they are obligated to pay by the following due dates: Aron Peters, Ruekenau, promised to pay by 10 December 1840; Gerhard Schierling, Fuerstenwerder, promised to pay by February 1841; Heinrich Quiring, Conteniusfeld, pledged to pay within six weeks after 7 December 1840. A receipt from Clas Wiebe is enclosed. District Office in Halbstadt, 11 December 1840. District Deputy Toews, Secretary Sommerfeldt. 51 Regarding the project to build a mill in the Doukhobor village of Tambovka, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 362, 381, 386, 395.

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388. Johann Cornies to District Office. 18 December 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/172. District Office in Halbstadt, I herewith have the honour to report that my debtors, the Mennonites Claas Wiebe from Tiege, Aron Peters in Ruekenau, and Heinrich Quiring from Conteniusfeld repaid their debts in full. 389. David Voth to Johann Cornies. 20 December 1840. SAOR 89-1-628/132. Most esteemed brother Johann Cornies, With this meagre communication, I must report that I am presently absolutely unable to scare up any money, despite my best efforts. I have written to individuals who owe me considerable sums of money and threatened to report them since all my warnings have been of no avail. Regrettably, this did not work. Last week I submitted a petition to the District Office, requesting that a directive be given everyone indebted to me that they pay their debts to me. I therefore again ask you to be patient with me. As soon as I can gather even the slightest amount, I will come to discharge my debt. Your friend who loves you and sends you his heartfelt greetings, David Voth. 390. Johann Cornies to District Office. 22 December 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/174. District Office in Halbstadt, It is my duty to report that George Bliwernitz, the settler from Rosenberg in the Mariupol settlement who served on my Iushanle estate, died on 18 December from natural pox and was consigned to the earth on 20 December. 391. Johann Cornies to Christian Klassen. 22 December 1840. SAOR 89-1-647/173. Dear Friend Christian Klassen, Though I send you many good wishes, I must report that George Bliwernitz who was in my service, fell ill on 8 December. At first his illness was of no concern, but then on 10 December pox appeared and his condition quickly turned serious, with pox blanketing

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his entire body and especially his face. There was no healthy spot to be seen. For two days he was delirious, his speech confused. Then he became peaceful again, his consciousness was fully restored, and he spoke sensibly. On 18 December he was completely conscious and his usual self when death ended his earthly life. He was appropriately consigned to the earth on 20 December in the graveyard on my estate. His last will, as expressed to my manager Wiens, was that his possessions go to his son. I request that you report this death to his brothers and also notify the appropriate persons to fetch items from my manager belonging to Wiens that the deceased left behind on my Iushanle estate. These persons must possess a certificate from the District Office stating that specific persons, by name, are authorized to receive the effects belonging to the deceased George Bliwernitz. I am confident you will see this matter through as soon as possible. Your honest friend, Johann Cornies. P.S. If you are in a position to recommend for service on my Iushanle estate as good, industrious, and peaceful a person as George was, I would be much obliged.

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392. Johann Cornies to Johann Wiebe (Neuteich, W. Prussia). 2 (14) January 1841. SAOR 889-1-762/2.1 Highly esteemed friend, Your agreeable letter of 15 December (old style) reached me on 26 December and I hasten to express my opinions on matters under discussion: 1. I must repeat that if the desired purpose of furthering the emigration of Mennonites from Prussia to Russia is to be realized, the Minister’s resolution must be kept in mind in all deliberations. No decisions should be made that fail to correspond with the intent of that resolution. Only in this way can we avoid embarrassing situations for the [Mennonite] deputies in St. Petersburg that might compromise the whole matter. 2. I am in complete agreement with the suggestion that the deputies make their way to Petersburg through Tavrida and our settlements. As they prepare themselves for their mission, we should give them an understanding of the local situation. In providing them with the best advice in a manner that is conscientious, firm, and open, and in accordance with legal requirements, I am ready to help my Prussian brethren in faith establish a firm basis for their enduring well-being in the Russian Empire.

1

Regarding the proposed immigration of Prussian Mennonites, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 266, 323, 324, 361, 392, 422, 447.

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3. I think it unnecessary for someone from among the sixty families here on travel passes to accompany them to Petersburg as a deputy. This is also true given that I do not know anyone in the group who has the personal qualities and knowledge to be useful in this matter. It would do more harm than good. Moreover, according to the new legal rules for settlement, most such people have not established themselves well enough here to permit admission to such a settlement. Even if these families had not been accepted for settlement, St. Petersburg would make inquiries about them and demand an accounting of the state of their property. With friendly greetings, I remain, with esteem, your honest friend and servant, Johann Cornies. For you: I know that you are already familiar with these remarks, but do not take them amiss. Their purpose is to ensure that nothing goes wrong or is overlooked should a deputation be formed. If the deputies are to succeed they must avoid anything that might deny them further access to higher levels of the administration. They must, moreover, carry with them a power of attorney confirmed by their nearest official jurisdiction and certified by a Russian General Consulate. The deputation should be dispatched in a manner that is open and well organized. 393. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 8 January 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/4.2 Baron v. Rosen, I write in response to Yr. communication No. 10,260 of 17 December 1840 from the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains asking about the progress made by sons and daughters of domain [state] peasants who were left with me to learn practical agriculture. Too little time has elapsed for them to have learned much. Nevertheless, the young Nogai Kutlale Keldaliev, who was accepted on 10 July 1840, has already made good progress in certain branches of agriculture. He comprehends procedures for lifting [potatoes out of the soil], for grafting and transplanting trees, picking, drying, and preserving fruit, the correct use of several agricultural implements as, for example, a spade,

2

Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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following methods used in my establishment, preparing small beds for vegetable and fruit seeds, and directing, handling, and caring for spans of oxen and horses. He is also familiar with methods employed in tending domestic livestock and feeding and fattening beef cattle with potatoes. He has already acquired some dexterity in inoculating sheep for pox and has learned the rudiments of ploughing and seeding for field cultivation. The other two, Dusembe Tuleshev and Salaka Dohamanov, are also familiar with the improvement of trees, their lifting and transplantation. They know about the best handgrips in working a spade, how to tend beef cattle, and how best to mix fodder with chaff and potatoes in the feeding of cattle. Dusembe can inoculate [livestock] for pox and both have learned to lead a span of oxen and to harrow, following methods used on my holdings. The two girls, Evdokia Dudkina and Marfa Bitshok, have learned to milk cows in the East Frisian manner, handle and set milk to yield a maximum of cream, churn butter, and also clean sores to keep cattle from becoming infected. They have learned the rudiments of knitting and sewing. All have learned to think and to be less prejudiced. They have started to embrace ethical attitudes and are acquiring an interest in agricultural practices. The conceits they brought with them have been extinguished, and they have grown accustomed to orderliness in their work and in speaking truthfully, at least to a degree. Johann Cornies. 394. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 8 January 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/5.3 Baron v. Rosen, In response to Yr. Honour’s inquiry 349 of 28 October 1840, I immediately called upon all inhabitants of the Mennonite district to report to me how many chetvert of seed potatoes each intended to sell this spring and at what price. The village offices reported that in various villages, individual agriculturalists will have for sale a total of 476 chetvert of potatoes, and perhaps make available more than double this number. Last year, however, potatoes had to be harvested when they were not yet mature as it was feared that these potatoes would not otherwise

3 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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retain their capacity to sprout in spring. It might be necessary to use them up as livestock fodder. For this reason, they only accepted seasoned potatoes for sale from agriculturalists. The list price was ten to twelve rubles per chetvert. 395. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 8 January 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/6.4 Baron v. Rosen, I am pleased to report that a joint stock company has been formed to construct a water mill at Tambovka, and will be in a position to realize this project. Most of the people in this company have good intentions to make it generally useful. One hundred and fifty shares have been sold to thirty people at thirty silver rubles apiece. As the first such company founded among Mennonites, this is another innovation that looks to the future. 396. Johannes Sander to Johann Cornies. 12 January 1841. SAOR 89-1-769/8. Esteemed Mr. Cornies, Since it is difficult for me to visit you, I would ask whether you have received news from the Crimea about the matter we discussed, that is, whether or not I can go to the Crimea as miller. Please address the letter to Aron Rempel in Schoensee, where I am staying. I wish you every success and sign myself as your humble friend, Johannes Sander. 397. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 13 January 1841. SAOR 889-1-746/6v.5 Mr. v. Steven, Since you have found a discrepancy in my declaration, kindly allow me to explain in greater detail matters relating to the weight of potatoes 4

Regarding the project to build a mill in the Doukhobor village of Tambovka, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 362, 381, 386, 395. 5 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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and their measurement and about the number of potatoes the size of a hen’s egg that would constitute a chetverik. Your test showed that there were not as many in the chetverik. If a hen’s egg of medium size is measured crosswise with a piece of thread and then potatoes exactly the same size as this measurement are selected, you will find that eleven potatoes of this size weigh one funt. Six hundred of them will constitute one chetverik, but the chetverik must naturally be heaped, as is customary in measuring potatoes. Since it would take a lot of time to select and measure 600 potatoes, the test can be made more easily by measuring only twenty-two potatoes. By the time a worker has become experienced in this task he will easily be able to choose potatoes of this size. Should he select a few potatoes somewhat larger, he would also pick an equal number somewhat smaller. Around 600 potatoes more or less of this size constitute one chetverik, or one eighth chetvert, which weighs fifty funt. I used twenty-four chetvert of potatoes to fatten four oxen plus four chetvert of chopped barley. To prevent potato feed from having a powerful purging effect on animals, one garnitz of chopped barley should be added to it when fattening livestock. When the first suitable transport opportunity to Simferopol occurs, I will send you the pud of cheese you ordered. Please be patient and allow me to repay the rest of my debt there. I include the address of the Sarepta Trading Company in Moscow whose current head is Mr. Blueher. Enclosed is a short overview of weather conditions for the year 1840 [not extant]. With continuing esteem, I remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 398. Forestry Society to village offices. 16 January 1841. SAOR 89-1-750/63.6 One would assume that fruit trees are already being widely cultivated in our villages because of the important advantages that flow from the keeping of orchards. In accordance with its policy, our wise Imperial government has provided us with all-embracing assistance in the

6

This is one example of several copies of this letter in the collection.

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promotion of orchards since the establishment of our villages. Regretably, however, these expectations have not been realized. The reasons include the failure of our more prosperous villagers to serve as examples to their less prosperous neighbours. If regularly planted orchards are not established in our villages, the cultivation of fruit-trees cannot make progress as the Imperial Government wishes and requires of settlers. The attention of people travelling through our villages is drawn to the good agriculturalists who have improved their establishments and also to those whose land lies desolate. All good agriculturalists with orderly orchards will confirm that the cultivation of good fruit trees is of great value to them. Orchards constitute the second most important branch of their agricultural economies. Villages can make use of almost every corner of their land to plant fruit trees and fruit has multiple uses. It can be eaten fresh, cooked, or dried. How cheerful and beautiful a village or individual holding looks when a variety of well-tended fruit trees are grown. Where fields are cultivated by industrious men of the land they provide a picture of abundance and well-being. Villages and yards with good soils but lacking fruit trees, on the other hand, betray lazy and ignorant inhabitants and are not worthy of respect. Indeed, individuals and statesmen who travel through our villages and honour us with their visits, judge entire regions by their appearance. As soon as people from time immorial left their savage state and became cultivators of the soil, they developed orchards. The situation is hardly different today where the planting, multiplication, protection, and dissemination of fruit trees is recognized as a sure sign of progress generally and particularly of the level of advancement of every peasant. The Society for Fruit-Tree Cultivation must sadly conclude that despite years of effort, encouragement, and the punctual fulfilment of imperial administrative orders, orchard development has still made little progress among us. This is despite the fact that the instructions of the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers charged the Molochnaia Mennonite community to push ahead with orchard development as a flourishing branch of our economy as quickly as possible. Indeed, it is to the shame of the community that the majority of fullholders and cottagers have proceeded so sluggishly in the five years since the institution of systematic tree-planting. The reasons include the failure of our more prosperous villagers to serve as examples to their less prosperous neighbours. Concerned about this matter, the Guardianship Committee has directed the Society in Order No. 2041 of 30 May 1840 to see to it that

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the planting of fruit-trees is speeded up. In light of the fact that much time has passed since each village was settled, it has ordered that every agriculturalist plant from ten to forty new trees annually. In line with this directive, the Society has decided that fruit-tree planting should be carried out in the following manner. In villages in existence for twenty to thirty years, all householders with fewer than 100 trees in their gardens must plant twenty-five trees annually according to the rules and regulations; those with fewer than 150 will plant twenty trees; those with fewer than 200 will plant fifteen; and those with fewer than 250 trees will plant a minimum of ten trees annually. In villages in existence for more than ten years, but fewer than twenty years, householders with fewer than 100 trees in their gardens must plant fifteen trees annually; those with fewer than 150 will plant ten annually; and so on. In villages founded less than ten years ago, special rules will prevail, but after ten years they will follow the rules outlined above. Preparation of the soil should be done at least a half year before planting according to the well-known rules, either by deep-ploughing or with pits of the stipulated size. Once these rules have been received, village office officials should read them attentively to all householders in their original form and an exact copy should be entered into the journal of plantings. The original should then be sent on [to the next village]. [The village offices] shall report to the Society, with their legal signatures, that all householders have been apprised of these rules and that a copy of them has been made. This must be carried out. If this matter does not proceed quickly, village offices should expect to be penalized. The Society will soon inform village offices as to when these rules will be put into effect. Society for the Dissemination of Plantings in Ohrloff, 16 January 1841. Chairman Johann Cornies, Member Gerhard Enns, Member Jacob Martens. 399. Johann Klassen to Johann Cornies. 18 January 1841. SAOR 89-1-769/10.7 Mr. Johann Cornies, most valued friend, I have been informed that the authorities do not see any obstacles to releasing half of the land assigned to the factory to my old creditors 7

Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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of twelve years ago. Although this action would not entirely cover my old debt, the [supervising] commission and the District Office say that the majority of my creditors would be satisfied with this arrangement. In our petition we have said the following: “In order to erase our debt, we could release 1500 desiatinas to the worthy creditors to allow them to rent it out for cultivation for ten to twelve years. Enough bidders from surrounding villages could be found who would be willing to lease the land at a rate of one silver ruble per desiatina. This would yield 1500 silver rubles annually or a total of 18,000 silver rubles in twelve years, or 72,000 rubles, estimated at the exchange rate of four rubles. With a constantly growing population and greater activity in field cultivation, it is possible that a higher rate could be generated if the land were leased for four-year periods. Although such funds could assist us greatly in emerging out of our present difficult situation [of indebtedness], we would still like to release the land to our creditors as a way of gradually erasing our debt.” Several considerations move me to make this proposal: 1. I would like to ensure that our creditors receive partial compensation and that I might live to see that they are satisfied. 2. I need to secure new credits for the running of the factory, but when I try, the old debt is always mentioned as an obstacle. 3. I would like to provide better security for my family. Even if ten business years of activity were to be granted me, the situation would still be in question. Moreover, time and circumstances are subject to change, especially when many new inventions are currently being made in the machine trades. Delay increases the difficulty of restarting the factory. Indeed, with the exception of the cloth and wool production, everything not destroyed by the flames is falling into ruin. At the time [of the fire], I evaluated what was left to me at 10,000 rubles, if used immediately. Now its value is no longer nearly that high. I therefore sincerely request that you, as the largest creditor and as my friend and benefactor, agree to this proposal. You know that the land never supported the factory. If we now retain half of the land and the factory is again started with six looms, it should recover sufficiently and generate an annual surplus of about 6,000 rubles after six years, providing the debt load is not too large. It might also develop more rapidly as the capital increases. If sufficient means

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were provided to build the required structures and obtain the needed good and durable machines, more could be acquired gradually to avoid a doubling of our expenses. When I submitted the petition about the use of the land, six looms were operating and 4,680 arshins of cloth were being produced annually. With another four looms, production improved to 14,163 arshins of cloth yearly. Still, I had moved forward too quickly because I had no working capital or credit. Prospects are now more hopeful because I am more knowledgeable [about this business] and because of the availability of better and more powerful machines that we have hitherto lacked. Again, I would urgently request that you consider what is to the best advantages of an unfortunate, hard-pressed family. With all esteem, I sign myself as your devoted Johann Klassen. 400. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 27 January 1841. SAOR 89-1-757/2. Dear Mr. Cornies, I was very interested to read your overview of weather conditions for the year 1840 which you kindly sent me. I will send the notes you submitted on to the high Ministry. Since you have continued to make your observations over a period of many years, I would request that you review previous years to determine whether in your area, as in ours, 19 September and the following days are colder than the preceding and following periods. Does the same happen on 2 May? These two days are usually marked by the first and last night frosts, or at least by very low temperatures. [Ilegible paragraph, seemingly about measuring potatoes and the costs of fattening cattle.] I have a supply of harmala seed, about fifty to sixty puds, that should be transported to Taganrog. Since Nogais from your region often bring in grain to this area, you might authorize someone to transport the harmala seed as return freight, at least as far as your area, where you would soon find an opportunity to forward them to Taganrog. You probably have read what a nice red dye can be made from this seed. Did you receive the two Nogai youths I sent along to you? Are they, and the two girls still with you? Please write to me in this regard. With esteem, your respectful C. Steven.

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401. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 2 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-661/6. My dear and valued Cornies, Your letters arouse in me pleasant memories of you and your good brethren. Whatever concerns you will always be close to my heart. Today, I wrote to Petersburg promoting the establishment of a craftsmen’s village in your area.8 I would advise you to write about this matter yourself, also to Bradke and Keppen. The latter wrote recently that you had forgotten him and are no longer providing news about yourself. We are having a severe winter, with much snow. Agriculturalists hoped their crops would be blessed. May God grant this. Granted, our guberniia is not suffering want, but we have had two bad crop years that have seriously affected many of our residents. Warmest greetings to you and your family and to our good Martens. I wish him an early recovery, although I gather this is most unlikely to happen. Is there no way of turning his thoughts and activities in a different direction, perhaps by involving him in community affairs? Fare well and remain healthy, your devoted A Fadeev. 402. Johann Cornies to Hommaire. 5 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/8v.9 Mr. Hommaire in Odessa, Sir, When I returned home after a trip to Odessa, I found your letter on 5 January 1841. After opening it, I saw to my regret that it was written in French that I cannot read as I would like. I did manage, however, to understand that you would like me to send you copies of my descriptions of the two sects that you met when you were here, the Doukhobors and the Molokans, and their religions. I could not understand the rest of your letter. Please make your wishes known to me in German or Russian in order that I might put myself at your service.

8 9

Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, n10, and docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499. Xavier Hommaire de Hell.

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403. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 11 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/9.10 Baron v. Rosen, Let me respectfully report to Yr. Honour that on 15 January, two youths were sent to me to learn practical agriculture: 1. The District Chairman of the Mikhailov District Office sent Paul Stepanenko, eighteen years of age, a state peasant from the village of Balok in Melitopol District. 2. With communication No. 6888 of 19 December 1840, the Dneprov District Chairman sent Varlamii Nubka, eighteen years of age, a state peasant from the village of Rogatchik in his District. Five youths, including these two, plus two girls, are now learning practical agriculture with me. 404. Johann Cornies to District Office. 13 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/9v. District Office in Halbstadt, Martin Kroeker, Margenau village, and Abraham Enns, Neukirch, have owed me considerable sums of money since the autumn of l839. Despite agreements and admonitions, I have utterly failed to get either of them to discharge these debts. This leaves me no choice but to ask the honourable District Office to legally force Kroeker and Enns to discharge these debts as soon as possible. Martin Kroeker owes me a total of 2461 rubles 77 kopeks, including interest to February 184l. Abraham Enns owes me 2764 rubles 33 1/2 kopeks to the same date. Please inform me of the results of the District Office’s actions in this regard. 405. District Office to Johann Cornies. 15 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/95.11 To esteemed Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, 10 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701. 11 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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You are hereby asked to appear at the District Office on 25 February at 10 a.m. to sign the agreement regarding your demands on the clothmanufacturer Johann Klassen, Halbstadt. District Office Deputy Braun, Halbstadt District Office, 15 February 1841. 406. David Huebert to Johann Cornies. 16 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/97. Best of friends, Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, I write in response to your communication to let you know that I lent fifty-four rubles, sixty-one kopeks to the Doukhobor, Schuit Panfer Statfeiev from Troiide, until 9 March 1841 for an iron purchase. I remain, with respect, your friend David Huebert. 407. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 22 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/12.12 Governor Muromtsev, I have the honour to report to Yr. Excellency, that I am presently unable to use the previous influence I had with the Doukhobors to promote their genuine welfare. Since learning about the Imperial decision [to exile these people], they have been uncommunicative, suspicious, and refuse to maintain contacts with Mennonites as they once did. As recently as eight days ago the Molochnaia River, the small stream that marks the boundary between the Mennonite and Doukhobor districts, was easily crossed, and lively relations had characterized our relations. Now, however, the river seems to have become an impenetrable Chinese wall that no Doukhobor will cross. When I returned from Tashchenak I learned that, after you and the other officials left Terpenie on Sunday, 16 March, Shicherov summoned the [Doukhobor] community and gave a speech exhorting them to remain steadfast in the belief of their fathers and follow their example no matter

12 Regarding the exile of the Doukhobors, see John R. Staples, Cross-Cultural Encounters on the Ukrainian Steppe: Settling the Molochna Basin, 1783–1861 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003), 92–106, and TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 407, 411, 414.

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what terrible things might befall them.13 To confirm their steadfastness and to strengthen them in their resolve, the entire community, one after the other, shook hands with Shicherov. Doubtlessly, similar discussions and handshakes have taken place in the other Doukhobor villages. As for me, I place little value on this agreement, since I know them well. The Doukhobors lack a firmness of character, and most are frivolous as their religion demonstrates. They make promises but break them as easily, without embarrassment. Decisions made in the heat and desperation of the moment, are, in my opinion, even less likely to be carried out. I think the Doukhobors should be left absolutely alone to give them time to cool off and to collect themselves. To start discussions with them now, in their present condition, would merely strengthen them in their delusions. Dependable people tell me that individual Doukhobors, when no one else is present, are known to say that it would be better for them to remain here than move to regions where they could expect nothing of benefit for themselves. Mennonite administrators have ordered all members of their community to refrain from communicating with the Doukhobors. They are not to press their views upon them, [to] refuse to listen to their excuses, and not [to] enter into discussion with them about the Imperial decision. However, in appropriate cases they might offer a word of advice, honestly and sympathetically, that they should accept the Imperial will and convert to the Christian religion. Only in this way might they and their descendants find happiness for time and eternity. I have the honour to remain, with perfect esteem, Yr. Excellency’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 408. Johann Cornies to Evdokimov. 22 February 1841. SAOR 889-1-746/13v. His Honour, State Counsellor Evdokimov in Odessa, In accordance with the promise I made, I am sending you one garnitz of Chinese oil radish seed in waxed linen marked Litt. M.K. for

13 This was probably the important Doukhobor leader Fatei Zhikharev, who lived in the Doukhobor village of Terpenie. Orest Novitsky describes him as an important Doukhobor leader (Novitsky, Dukhobortsy: Ikh Istoriia i verouchenie [Kiev, 1882]), and SOAR 1-200-52 (1838) lists him as an assistant to Ilarion Kalmykov, the hereditary leader of the Doukhobors in 1841. Zhikharev accompanied Kalmykov to the Caucasus with the first group of exiles in 1841. We are indebted to Doukhobor historian Jonathan Kalmakov for this information.

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forwarding to Mr. Trabinskii. It blossoms from the beginning of June and ripens in the middle of August, producing bigger and smaller pods with rounded reddish-brown seeds that are rich in an oil similar to radish oil. If beaten when cold they produce an oil almost like poppy-seed oil. If the seed is to bear abundantly, it must be sown finely on a light, rich soil, free of all weeds, at three garnitz per desiatina. Because it blossoms continuously, it ripens irregularly and this irregular ripening increases as it spreads out. It is usually harvested in mid-August when most kernels are ripe. It is usually taken off with a scythe or sickle, bound in sheaves and allowed to dry. It is, however, better to dry the seed on the swath and then bind it, although this must be done when there is dew. Otherwise many pods will break off. The pods do not split open so easily, but must be threshed in the heat of the sun and cleaned with a sieve. It is very suitable for crop rotation. Its abundant hairy leaves draw much nourishment from the atmosphere and its roots leave behind a considerable wealth of nutrients in the soil. All other crops that follow thrive well. However, it must be sown early and the land harrowed in advance so that the seed only goes into the soil at a shallow depth. This plant likes a dry, warm soil and a site that is not too sunny. I cannot adequately express my thanks for Yr. generous benevolence of which I will endeavour to make myself worthy. Permit me to request that your benevolence continue and, if it is within my ability, I will seek to further your trust in me. I consider it to be the greatest joy of my life to be allowed to call myself Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 409. Johann Cornies to District Office. 24 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-756/15. To the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, From the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, The Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains has sent me a communication, No. 677 of 28 January 1841, which is a copy of the Department’s announcement regarding sheep fleeces that might be sent to the wool exhibition in Doberan in the Mecklenburg area. It asks me to instigate an invitation to owners of important sheep farms recommending that they send their fleeces to this exhibition through the Third Department.

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I have the honour to send the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office a copy of the above-mentioned announcement, with the request that it kindly encourage the owners of larger sheep farms in the villages under its jurisdiction to participate in this endeavour. Johann Cornies, Ohrloff village. 410. Tobias Geyer to Johann Cornies. 28 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/106. Highly valued Sir, I take pleasure in sending you the enclosed pouch designed to provide safe-keeping for Ali Pasha’s certificate of commendation. Eighty kopeks was mentioned as the price. Later, however, it was decided to improve the case by providing a flap. I therefore made a pouch with a genuine morocco flap, and the price has risen to one ruble, thirty kopeks. Commending myself with best wishes and greetings, I remain with esteem, your respectful servant, Tobias Geyer, Bookbinder in Molochnaia. 411. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 28 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/19v.14 Mr. Governor Muromtsev, Four Doukhobors appeared before me on 22 February, the first time since the Imperial orders had been announced. Although they did not in any way suggest that they were coming on behalf of their community, the nature of the questions directed to me made it sufficiently clear that they were acting as deputies. They asked me to tell them honestly whether it was really true that the decision had been made to exile them or if the intention was simply to frighten the Doukhobors and cause them to convert to the Orthodox Church. In a few short words I told them that it was His Majesty, the Emperor’s supreme command that would be promptly carried out without fail. They should not in any way doubt that all persons not converting to the Orthodox Church would be banished from here.

14 Regarding the exile of the Doukhobors, see Staples, Cross-Cultural Encounters, 92–106, and TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 407, 411, 414.

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On 24 February, Shicherov appeared here, looking alert and cheerful and commenting that few persons would like to convert to the Orthodox Church and remain behind, but when I explained various aspects of the situation to him in detail, he became thoughtful. He doubts that most Doukhobors have sufficient resources to make such a long journey. He himself and Kalmykov would not reject their faith, even if they are sent to a monastery.15 “My greatest regret,” he said, “is that the great majority is poor and will starve on the road.” It was his opinion that only about a hundred individuals were affluent enough to make the journey on their own. Many had already begun to sell their few movable personal belongings, but many were wavering in their opinions and did not know what to do. They were frightened that even if they converted to the Orthodox faith, they would still not be allowed to remain here. The old would be scattered among the Russian villages and the young would be sent off as soldiers. It has required great effort on my part to clear up this matter for them. Individuals have already told me freely and openly that they would convert to the [Orthodox] Christian church, but they would like to keep this quiet and secret so as not to suffer great insults and contempt from the others. On 25 February, I travelled among them and took the opportunity to explain the emperor’s great favour to them and advise them not to be indifferent to his great benevolence on behalf of their temporal and eternal bliss. On the whole, it seems to me that the great majority of these people are fighting a great inner battle, and do not know what to do. The oath, expressed by the handshake with Shicherov and the other leaders, is a sign averring that they will remain steadfast like one man in the faith of their fathers. They have begun to communicate with Mennonites. They have also become more trusting. In contrast, they are more suspicious of their old conservative leaders, who attempt to draw them in with excessive lies and falsehoods. With unchanging esteem, I remain Yr. Excellency’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 412. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 28 February 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/17v. Mr. Steven,

15 Ilarion Kalmykov, son of Vasilii Kalmykov and hereditary leader of the Doukhobors.

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On 24 February, the Nogai Baiboro Mengli Aliev from Susukan delivered fifty puds, thirty funt harmala seed in good condition, for which I paid him the remainder of the freight charges of 20 rubles, as specified in the notice from Mr. Shicherov. I would gladly have forwarded the seed quickly to State Counsellor Elsingk in Taganrog, as you asked, but I failed to find a cart. At this time of year, especially when there is much snow, no one wants to undertake any freighting. A thaw and burias, or storms, are presently creating havoc, making all communications difficult. No one can remember such a winter. Day after day the storms have been raging without stop from Ruekenau Village to the dam. Ravines and valleys are full of snow, drifts cover the houses, and it is hard to believe that the tall German granaries have been snowed under. Many are collapsing. Since the snow has drifted to the tops of windows in the eastern part of our district, lights must be lit in many houses on the brightest days. Many houses can only be entered through narrow passageways or through roofs. The tips of only a few trees in orchards are still visible. The trees are buried under more than twenty-five feet of snow. One anticipates that, when the mountains of snow melt, many trees will break and there will be astonishing damage in the orchards. It is unusual that villages west of Ruekenau have had snow but no burias, and none have had their communications with other villages broken. Meanwhile, I will make every effort to dispatch the seeds to Taganrog as soon as I can. It is indeed true that the dates of 2 May and 19 September distinguish themselves annually because of their low temperatures. I had noticed this phenomenon in May but not so exactly in September. Many thanks for bringing it to my attention. Mr. Huebner has kindly assumed responsibility for the remainder of what I still owe you, according to your account. He will forward it to you. Of the 38 rubles 55 kopeks on my account, I paid twenty rubles to the Nogai carter for the Harmala seed. You will receive 18 rubles 55 kopeks from Mr. Huebner. I am sending you cheeses along with Mr. Huebner. They weigh one pud and cost fourteen rubles. I put them on a new account. If it is possible, Yr. Honour, Mr. State Counsellor, I humbly ask that you order several Russian alphabet books for the crown apprentices. Full of lively feelings of esteem and thanks, I remain Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies.

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413. Johann Cornies to Huebner. 6 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/21. Mr. Huebner, Assessor in the Tavrida Bureau for State Domains, Tokmak District Chairman Marchenko arrived soon after you departed from Ohrloff. When he discovered that you had left, he drove to my estate, Iushanle, to await the chief administrator. I learned about this after my return fom Tambovka. I immediately left for Iushanle, where I rebuked him for leaving some of his duties undone. He showed me the community verdict, signed by all members as desired, with the exception of two. After the Uezd’s chief administrator’s sharply punitive sermon about his negligent behaviour towards you, he was most embarrassed. He asked me to help him redress his fault with you, promising emphatically that he would strive to be more punctual in future. He also promised to inculcate in his peasants a better attitude towards their neighbours, the Mennonites, towards everything useful for the economic and moral improvement of the peasants under his supervision, and to follow my advice to the letter. Since I know that you have a kind heart and will forgive insults if there is serious hope of improvement, I do not hesitate to ask you to forgive District Chairman Marchenko’s thoughtlessness. I am so inclined because of my hope that he will accept the sharp criticism and instructions from the District Chief and me, even if the improvement is only in his public behaviour. In the expectation that my request will be granted, I have the honour to remain, with constant love and esteem, Yr. Honour’s most devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 414. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 6 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/22v.16 Mr. Governor Muromtsev, Yr. Excellency, Most Gracious Sir, To add to my earlier reports, I have the honour to inform Yr. Excellency that the Doukhobors are now selling all of their movable possessions in a great rush. Buyers in almost every village and in nearly

16 Regarding the exile of the Doukhobors, see Staples, Cross-Cultural Encounters, 92–106, and TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 407, 411, 414.

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every house are buying up livestock, furniture, and other household things and carrying them away. The Duhkobors are making preparations for their departure and are so uncommunicative that one can learn almost nothing about their thoughts or intentions. I have heard from only a few that Shicherov is keeping them in fear with his determined conduct. He has promised that those who cannot make the journey to the Transcaucasus with their own means will receive support. More than 100,000 rubles have been set aside for this purpose. Though many question his word or that this will happen, they dare not express their doubts or comment that they would like to remain. Each individual, on the contrary, is required to offer his possessions for sale to ensure that no disunity is evident among them. Shicherov travels around the villages and secretly bolsters their fears through a few of his old accomplices, who, as it were, force the Doukhobors to remain with the faith of their fathers. I have been told that in many homes husbands and wives do not know what the other really wants and no one dares to declare himself to anyone else. Many are selling their livestock and furniture despite the fact that they have already decided to convert to the Christian [Russian Orthodox] religion as soon as the commission arrives. It is really astonishing how Shicherov and his assistants can keep a large number of people in such secretive fear. Even Doukhobors who have had the courage to explain what I have described were insistent that I keep it a secret, lest they find themselves in grave difficulty. I do not know for certain whether reports that Doukhobor deputies have been sent out are true. It is said that they are two discharged soldiers, one of whom had supposedly served in the guards in St. Petersburg. It is said that they are supposed to travel to Odessa and then to St. Petersburg with a request for a year’s extension of their right to stay here. District Chief Kolosov has just gone to see Kalmykov and will try to persuade the young man to declare his acceptance of [Russian Orthodox] Christian beliefs. I doubt that this will succeed. He has taken shelter under Shicherov’s wing and says and does whatever Shicherov asks him to do. In my opinion, if would be helpful and to the purpose if Shicherov and Kalmykov were put under arrest as quickly as possible and taken from here through Ekaterinoslav to Kherson Guberniia. They should be sent to different cities and deprived of any means of communication with the local Doukhobors. With great esteem, I respectfully remain Yr. Excellency’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies.

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415. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 6 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/24. Baron v. Rosen, Varlamii Nubka, a peasant’s son from the village of Rogatchik, Dneprov District, who had been sent to me on 15 January to learn practical agriculture, fell ill on 10 February with a burning fever. All attempts to give him medical help were fruitless. He died on 22 February and was buried in the cemetery on my Iushanle estate in accordance with the rites of the Greek Church. (The possessions left behind by the deceased, according to the following list, are stored with me. Please let me know to where I should forward them.) I had assigned this apprentice as teacher for his comrades because he was gifted, could read and write, and had a firm and serious character. I am very sorry to have suffered this loss and to have to do without such a good and clever individual. Not everyone is willing to find and send me peasant youths such as this. List of the possessions of the deceased Varlamii Nubka: an old short fur coat covered with a blue Kitaika; an old jacket; an old sack; a pair of old linen trousers; two old linen shirts; a short Kitaika jacket; a striped woollen scarf; a square blue kerchief; a linen towel; a pair of old boots; and a small chest with a lock. 416. Abram Janzen to Johann Cornies. 9 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/44. Most esteemed Mr. Cornies, You will kindly forgive my taking the liberty to make a request, and to lay claim to your kindness. I promised that I would build two wall clocks for you and deliver them this week. This would have happened, as promised, since my part of the work is ready. But I am regrettably now in an embarrassing position because, according to the terms of our agreement, painter Braun, Lindenau, should have delivered the clock-faces fourteen days ago. They are still not ready. For this reason I request your kind consideration. As for a pedometer, I could make one as soon as the clocks are delivered. It would be of the most modern design, which Mr. [Cololough], an enlightened friend of the arts, found to be so useful on his many travels. I would, at the same time, take the liberty of requesting a loan from you of one hundred and twenty silver rubles for ten to twelve months,

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at an interest rate determined by your kindness. I need it to pay off the money I still owe on a cottager lot that I purchased from A. Friesen, Tiege. (He needs money badly himself.) I have already paid off 306 rubles of the loan and would have discharged all of it from my own means had I had an opportunity to sell a full locksmith’s forge I own in Khortitsa. It is complete and all the tools work. I had leased it to apprentices who had been working for me. Since the apprentices do not want to move here I intend to sell it. It cost me considerably more than 400 rubles to set up the entire shop with tools and I would loose a great deal if I sold it now. I also have several hundred rubles invested in springs and other clock-making parts, etc. I would ask you kindly for your personal answer tomorrow. I again commend myself to you with great respect, and humbly ask you to accept my apology. Abram Janzen, Clockmaker. 417. Johann Goertz to Johann Cornies. 10 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/45.17 To the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture in Ohrloff, According to an announcement circulated by the Ohrloff Society, the latter needs several men who are well acquainted with potato cultivation according to the most recent methods. They are to report to the Society in Ohrloff. I therefore write to apply for one of these positions. I am familiar with the implements required for this job, having manufactured several of them myself, using wood and iron. Should the Society accept me for this purpose, I would ask that I be notified accordingly. Because I have been bed-ridden for the past nine days, it is impossible for me to appear personally at this time. But since the illness does not seem to be fatal, I hope to be able to appear personally. Johann Goertz. 418. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 17 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/27v. Baron v. Rosen, A party of inhabitants of the Nogai village of Kakbas have approached a Mennonite in our local district, Johann Wiens in Conteniusfeld village, 17 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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asking for wheat as seed-grain. They propose that, after threshing, they would return two chetvert of wheat to Wiens for every one received. In the event of a crop failure, they would pay twenty rubles for every chetvert received. Wiens has now asked me whether he would be permitted to enter into such an agreement and to whom he should apply in this regard. Under the conditions proposed, he is willing to distribute 100 to 150 chetvert of seed-wheat, half Arnautka and half Hirka, to all Nogais in possession of at least one pair of oxen and enough able-bodied hands to harvest the grain. Please let me know as soon as possible whether you consider this a useful undertaking for the Nogais and to whom Wiens and the Nogais should properly apply. Seeding time is near at hand and a speedy decision is needed. Personally, I recognize this as a useful proposal, but only if a record is kept of all Nogais obtaining seed-wheat from Wiens under this arrangement. It should be pointed out to the Nogais that, in the event of a good harvest, it would definitely be their responsibility to keep in storage as much of the harvested wheat as they would need for seeding the following year. Also, each Nogai should not be permitted to take more than two chetvert seed-wheat from Wiens this year. These are only my suggestions. Yr. Honour will have the best insight as to what would be most useful for Nogais in this situation. I remain, with the most complete esteem, Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 419. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 17 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/29. State Counsellor v. Steven, Since an increasing number of interested persons would like to become involved in sericulture and wish to obtain silkworm eggs, Yr. Honour and State Counsellor will kindly forgive me if I repeat my humble request. If possible and as soon as you can, please send me the quantity of silkworm eggs you consider appropriate for distribution to the Mennonites. This is particularly important, since a not inconsiderable quantity seem to have been spoiled this winter because of inappropriate storage.

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420. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 20 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/35.18 Baron v. Rosen, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication No. 76 of 6 February 1841, I have the honour to report that I am fully prepared to assume direction and leadership in the introduction of potato cultivation among state peasants in our local area, as you request. In fact, I have already encouraged several industrious and highly knowledgeable Mennonites, who will need to be paid, to take on the task of instructing state peasants in the systematic cultivation of potatoes. They will assume leadership in having a desiatina of land in every district planted and cultivated by state peasants with the specific purpose of introducing potato cultivation at the earliest possible time. These men are requesting a payment of seventy-five to one hundred rubles for every desiatina dedicated to this purpose in each district, depending on its distance from their village. This would involve, for example, 100 rubles for the Andreevka, Iugastamgalinskaia, and Bereslova villages in the Orekhov Uezd and seventy-five rubles for other villages in the area. They also ask that they be assigned two intelligent young people, twenty to thirty years of age, selected from among the workers, to set, hill, hoe, and other tasks as needed. In this way, these individuals would be taught all tasks relating to the productive cultivation of potatoes. The crown would naturally have to assume costs for the acquisition of field implements, the hilling plough, and the marker for each village. These implements would not cost more than five silver rubles and could remain stored in each uezd. There are forty-two villages in this area, but two of them are on the verge of collapse as the Doukhobors move away. With one desiatina in each village, there would be a total of forty desiatinas, one in each village to be sown with potatoes. If five and a half chetvert of seed are estimated for each desiatina, it will be necessary to purchase 220 chetvert of potatoes as seed. It is extremely important that all of this be put in motion and accomplished in the appropriate manner and at the appropriate time. Since the time of year is already well advanced, it is essential that the final

18 Ibid.

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decision and order reach me by 30 March at the latest. This decision should also be sent to the appropriate persons, informing them that I have been appointed director of potato cultivation in the Melitopol District. My requisitions should also be approved by then. Once people in our villages are involved in their own economies they cannot often be lured away, even with the greatest of rewards. The rule is that potatoes be planted before the hundredth day after the New Year. The fields in question have not yet been selected. Please do not take my urging badly for, although I am honestly willing to carry out your wishes to the advantage of the peasants, it is necessary that everything be accomplished at the appropriate time lest failure prejudice peasants against the whole enterprise. Awaiting an early decision, I strive to be, with esteem, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 421. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 24 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-762/4. From the Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, State Counsellor Baron Rosen, To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Cornies, A communication from the Governor General, Count Vorontsov, requires information needed by merchants trading grain in Berdiansk. His Excellency has asked me to work through uezd supervisors to encourage state peasants to use better seed, especially Arnautka and the so-called blood-wheat (red wheat). This would facilitate the growth of better, fuller kernels, to make the grain trade more lucrative for Berdiansk merchants and the people on the land. The Berdiansk grain merchants propose that this purpose be achieved by separating out the largest and fullest ears to be used as seed under the oversight of uezd supervisors. The supervisors would inform the Berdiansk mayor annually of the villages in which the grain had presumably improved and about the quantity for sale. The latter would inform the merchants in this regard. I am not completely convinced that the goal of improving kernel size can be reached in this way, but I would like to respond to Count Vorontsov’s wishes as much as possible. I would therefore ask you, as an experienced agriculturalist who understands the characteristics of your region, to give me your opinion about the most practical and appropriate means for the people of the land to improve their grain.

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Have efforts in this direction already been attempted and are they continuing? I await your comments and information since you are the most trustworthy source, based on your extensive experience and exact knowledge of the region and of local agriculturalists. I will make my submission to Count Vorontsov accordingly. B. d. Rosen. 422. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 24 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/30v. State Counsellor v. Keppen in St. Petersburg, What must you have been thinking about my failure to write to you for such a long time? Most valued State Counsellor, think whatever you may, only not that I have failed in my love and esteem for you. While I would find it hard to admit that I am deserving of rebuke, I would do so gladly if it would win your forgiveness. I am much like many other procrastinators. I postpone until tomorrow what might easily have been done today and, after many todays and tomorrows, I have done nothing. I have been hindered by unexpected business here, and by distractions there. And then I had to undertake something on behalf of the community. His Honour, Baron v. Rosen’s humane views and efforts to improve the peasant establishments in our district often demand much of my time. With many other interruptions interwoven into my days, I finally, blushing with shame, am astonished at my own negligence. Counting on the kindness of your heart, I flatter myself with the hope that as in so many like cases, you will treat me kindly. Please accept my promise that you will, from now on, receive frequent letters from me, should these not become too much of a burden for you. First, I have the honour to report that the metrological instruments obtained with your kind assistance have been received from Moscow in good condition and I am presently making use of them. Also, since June 1840, when I wrote to you in Vladimir city, I have conducted an uninterrupted exchange of letters with Prussian Mennonites about the desire of some of them to immigrate to Russia.19 At one time I assumed that deputies from there would arrive in Petersburg in September with a petition asking that a number of Mennonites be

19 Regarding the proposed immigration of Prussian Mennonites, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 266, 323, 324, 361, 392, 422, 447.

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permitted to immigrate and to conclude conditions with the government for this undertaking. I now assume from their letters that their local administration [in Prussia] must have intimidated them in this regard, filling them with fear that the Prussian government might interpret the dispatch of such a deputation to Russia much to their disadvantage. Indeed Mennonites might be seen as requesting admission to a foreign country at a time when Mennonite deputies [in Prussia] were paying homage to the king, solemnly promising him their attachment and faithfulness. This is an important consideration since, through the king’s graciousness, their previously oppressive situation was much improved recently when the order to vacate their leased estates was extended for twenty years, until 1865. Meantime, the above-mentioned matter remains of the greatest importance to them. They interpret, with appropriate thanks and emotion, the graciousness shown them by the esteemed [Russian] Minister on their behalf. Moreover, they are convinced that their future existence religiously may well depend only on their emigration. A lively exchange of letters was occasioned by this situation with several requests from their side that I present their proposals to Petersburg in writing. I did not, however, consider that this would serve a purpose. Instead, I insisted that they should send deputies from their midst directly to Petersburg with a petition for the immigration of a number of Mennonites, and to conclude terms. Now a group [of Prussian Mennonites] has finally notified me that they consider this appropriate to their purpose. Since such Mennonites live scattered and distant from each other, even beyond Thorn, a joint assembly of the Elders of the churches was scheduled to meet to select deputies. They also discussed specifically who should bear the costs, the combined churches or only churches with emigrating persons. An assembly of this nature was to have taken place in the middle of February, but I do not yet know anything concrete in this regard. In addition to the above, I am also sending you, Mr. State Counsellor, the three long-asked-for depictions of a square fathom of steppeland. I should mention that on all three spots all grasses and bulbous plants disappeared after the grass blossomed and dried up. I investigated and found that various grasses on these spots were in blossom before mowing took place, but some had shrivelled and others had lost their leaves. In comparison to earlier depictions, these places generally looked as though several grasses were actually growing on them, while only

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stems of the earlier grasses and plants were found. I did not consider it necessary to depict them in this condition. Item No.1 was made on a spot of the most excellent and productive steppeland, which one infrequently finds here, and on which hay can be mowed every year. The second is of a spot of moderate quality but still on a steppe. It is considered to be very good land and is found to a significant extent here, even though not enough grass grows on it every year to be mowed as hay. The fertility of this land depends more or less on the winter’s snowfall and moisture and also on how warm and moist it is in spring. The third depicts the worst of this steppe land where only meagre pasture for livestock grows, although there are years when enough grass grows to make hay. The average productive quality of the soil on each steppe can therefore not be determined definitely nor the extent to which one is better than the other. [Productivity] also depends on whether these sites are flat or more sloping and if the nutrients are able to penetrate the soil or run off more quickly, and whether grass development is stronger here, weaker there. In cultivating grain, the difference is not so great. There was an unfertilized field of oats on which the yield was elevenfold approximately 150 fathoms from the spot at which depiction No. 3 was made. I enclose two specimens of all the kinds of grasses that were found on each of the three one-fathom plots of land depicted, since I do not know how to give them their botanical names. The quantity, by weight, of the grass in its dried condition, was four funt, one loth, two and a half zolotnik for No. 1. It was one funt, ten loth, two zolotnik for No. 2 and twenty-two lot, 2 zolotnik for No. 3. At the same time, I have the pleasure of sending you the twenty maps of the local Molochnaia villages that you requested. I was not able to undertake the opening of any mogilas (archaeological mounds) during the past year. I had planned to start several times, but was always kept from doing so because of sudden unforeseen obstacles. The new arrangements among the crown peasants in our local area, especially among the Nogais, give me much work that is also pleasant and encouraging. The Nogais are aware of the benevolence that the government has bestowed upon them and are working actively towards their own improvement. May God grant that the land is plentiful and blesses them with good grain crops for another ten years. It is noticable how the Nogais are becoming more industrious from year to year and that their prosperity is on the rise. A good beginning has been made and Baron v. Rosen’s leadership will ensure that the protection

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and encouragement of the Nogais continues. Nogais are much inclined to lay out regular villages. I predict that, within a few years, several well-built, orderly, and regular villages will exist within the Nogai district. The lives of Nogai families will then be healthier and the conduct of their economies better. With this happy assurance, I think it is my life’s good fortune that I may call myself Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 423. Johann Cornies to Bradke. SAOR 89-1-746 /37. 24 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-746 /37.20 Mr Bradke, Director of the Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains. When I had the honour of attending upon you in my house in the village of Ohrloff, Yr. Excellency was so kind as to permit me to write to you about important matters. I would therefore ask Yr. Honour to kindly and graciously use your influence to have the projected craftsmen’s village beside Halbstadt confirmed as soon as possible. Since 1838 our poor artisans have been waiting for this confirmation and the permission to build the village and establish themselves. They are, however, becoming discouraged as they live their lives between hope and fear. As Yr. Excellency knows, the craftsman’s settlement promises to be very useful for the surrounding region. I have the firm hope that, with Yr. Excellency’s gracious influence, this confirmation by the esteemed Ministry of State Domains will soon follow, to our great satisfaction. In the hope that my request will be graciously realized, I remain, with the deepest esteem, Yr. Excellency’s most obedient servant, Johann Cornies. 424. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 24 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/37v.21 Mr. State Counsellor Keppen in St. Petersburg, Would Yr. Honour and State Counsellor permit me to appeal to your good will on behalf of the well-being of the Molochnaia Mennonites?

20 Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, n10, and docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499. 21 Ibid.

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You know how important it is for us that the projected craftsman’s village beside Halbstadt be established and built. To date this approval has not been given. The artisans, who live with this uncertainty, are becoming discouraged to believe that this confirmation will be forthcoming. I have also written to Acting State Counsellor v. Bradke about this matter, asking him to use his influence for the earliest possible confirmation. Familiar with our situation, you know the advantages of such a development for our craftsmen and the rest of our people. Please be our advocate with the Ministry of State Domains to the greatest extent possible. With the greatest respect I endeavour to remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 425. Heinrich Balzer to Johann Cornies. 27 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/87.22 Beloved brother-in-law, My friend Jacob Bartel of Neukirch has repeatedly asked me to approach you about receiving a supervisor’s position for the spread of potato cultivation in the surrounding area. Since he is a sound person, capable of conducting matters intelligently, I take the liberty of supporting the application of this well-respected individual. Please read his communication in regard to the details of his own agricultural situation. With heartfelt greetings, I sign myself as your loving brother-in-law, Heinrich Balzer. Tiege, 27 March 1841. [Bartel’s letter not extant.] 426. Johann Cornies to Mr. Kniazevich. Undated [between 16 March and 14 April 1841]. SAOR 89-1-746/39v. Mr. Kniazevich in Simferopol, Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, As you asked a year ago, I gladly send Yr. Honour the accompanying birches from my plantation. When he was here in February, His

22 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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Excellency, the Governor, also asked for several birches. I have therefore arranged to have a total of eleven young birches from my nurseries sent to you in a crate marked K.P. Please have four or five of them passed on to the Governor. I submit my bill for twenty-two kopeks silver for eleven birches at two kopeks each, twenty-five kopeks for packing, and forty and a half kopeks for transport and insurance, for a total of eightyseven kopeks silver. I humbly request that you might grant me further commissions in future. It gives me great pleasure to show you that your trust in me is well placed. I respectfully remain Yr. Excellency’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 427. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 30 March 1841. SAOR 89-1-762/6.23 From the Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, Baron Rosen, To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, I write in regard to the question regarding the number of livestock a state peasant should be allowed to keep and how much he should pay his community. The Dneprov District chairman has reported that a community in his district has submitted to him a community resolution complaining about the unequal use of crown lands among state peasants. They have requested changes. I would like to respond by suggesting fair and real changes that would remove obstructions to the general progress of the state peasantry. These changes must help poorer people and individuals with lesser means to gradually acquire the resources needed to increase their wealth. During my inspection trips through our districts, I became aware of this need among familes that have fallen behind in the payment of their state taxes. I think it just that state peasants assessed the same taxes be able to make the same demands on whatever the crown provides for their use. Those who use more crown land for their purposes, whether for livestock or seeding, should pay their fair share toward the well-being of their communities, depending on circumstances. To fairly assess this matter, I turn to you Mr. Cornies as an experienced and methodical agriculturalist, knowing that in your communities,

23 For Cornies’ response, see TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 487.

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determinations of this kind take place. I would ask you to inform me of the following: 1. how many head of oxen, horses, and sheep is each householder permitted to keep on a given number of desiatinas? 2. what payment must be made to the community for each head above this number, according to each category of livestock? Using the norms accepted in your communities in this regard please give me your rough ideas as to how such regulations might be introduced among our state peasants. You are familiar with the needs and uses of land as they relate to the number of souls. Please suggest the number of different livestock, in separate categories, each family should be allowed to keep and how much the family should be required to pay to the community for each additional head. 428. Traugott Blueher to Johann Cornies. 4 April 1841. SAOR 89-1-769/19. Beloved and valued friend, Many thanks for your friendly communication of 2 December. With regret, I must report that circumstances for our local cloth manufacturers here, and naturally for wool as well, are more unfavourable than they have ever been. Under such difficult circumstances a majority of our cloth manufacturers have failed. Many were able to repay only twenty-five percent [of what they had borrowed] and some are in arrears for monstrous sums. Aleksandrov, the pre-eminent manufacturer of cloth, who delivered superior wares for the exchange trade with China in the value of about five million rubles, Dobrokhotov, a like amount, and several German firms can no longer repay their creditors. Only about a quarter of the manufacturers here are still working and several large factories have closed. As a result, Russian wool merchants no longer extend credit and some have been completely ruined. Even Aristorkhov, who made multiple purchases in your region every year, is owed 400,000 by Aleksandrov, who also owes about 700,000 to Klimov, a Kharkov merchant. Prices acceptable under present conditions have been offered on credit for your wool, but I did not dare to agree to these conditions. For instance 27 rubles were offered for your wool in January, but the price

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was already too low. Your wool is therefore still in storage. Perhaps prospects in autumn will be brighter. The crisis is caused partly by falling prices for wool and finished fabrics, and this is attributable to the frightful shortage of food. Ordinary rye flour [in Moscow] costs 450 rubles per pud and prices for similar foodstuffs are correspondingly high. In the last month and a half, food prices have fallen somewhat. Should our loving Heavenly Father grant us a blessed harvest this year, one can hope that circumstances might be somewhat better next winter. One assumes that once it is possible to spend less on food, the demand for clothes and manufactured products, low for the past two years, will rise. Firms on less than solid ground may then well recover. Without access to credit they will have to work on a smaller scale. In today’s wool market trade is kept in balance partly through credits. A lack of trust is everywhere having a negative effect. Last year I was bid thirty rubles (for a term of twelve months) on a shipment of wool purchased last spring through your kind arrangements. This, according to a previous local scale, amounts to twenty-five rubles in cash. Under those conditions I did not accept the offer and the wool is still in storage. My dear and best friend, even though the current situation is terrible, I will not allow my trust in the compassionate direction of our Lord to sink. He will preserve me from complete destruction in the difficulties I face. The time is now approaching when this year’s wool purchases have to be discussed. Permit me to share my viewpoint with you. I would ask you to give me an advance until I receive news of a purchase here and until the price for wool in your area has settled in at a maximum price of twenty rubles for washed wool. Please have 800 puds of such wool purchased for me and, should the price not exceed thirteen rubles per pud, double that amount to 1600 puds. Do not agree to any price higher than twenty rubles. Since circumstances are so unfavourable, no profit can be expected even at this price. It is not in my interest to risk a loss for a second time. Should you be unable to provide an advance from your own means, you might perhaps be able to borrow the money at a low interest rate until I receive your invoice. In either case you will receive the money from me in the next mail. At a price of twenty rubles the quantity purchased would have to be much more modest. Indeed, when I think of it, no purchases in your region will even be likely under conditions of

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such low prices since sellers will be frightened until they get used to these prices at your annual markets. Perhaps you will have an opportunity to make your commercial deals later at the Ekaterinoslav or Romen markets. Few buyers will appear from this area, because the trade of a majority of our wool merchants has been totally disrupted. There is, moreover, too great a shortage of money for purchasers to be wandering about in distant places. Those who still have some resources will more likely visit the Pentecost market in Kharkov. We cannot expect any demand from abroad, since cloth factories are having sluggish sales everywhere and difficult conditions in China, Turkey, and America continue to limit sales. With tomorrow’s mail I am sending you one year of the Landwirtschaftliche Zeitung (Agricultural newspaper) from Halle, 1840, for five silver rubles (3.74 silver rubles plus postage at 1.26). I hope that the missing issue will arrive in May. Under present circumstances, the business I had anticipated has, in six months, declined to a sum of about 60,000 rubles. With poor prospects at the moment, only one sixth of that sum will be returned to me after a year. Many here have failed because of a general absence of dependable credit. They have been damaged by the failure of others and are not to blame. One would have to be quite blind to attribute the crisis only to chance. These are stern judgments of our Heavenly Father, who holds everything in His hands. He disciplines His children in order that they might pause and look up to Him. They must, without restriction, submit themselves to Him and to the circumstances of these times. Here, human cleverness has come to an end. The darker our circumstances are the greater is our need for friends to stand by one another in a firm bond. For many years I have had the good fortune to be bound to you through ties of love. I commend myself to your loving remembrance and remain your honest and respectful friend, Traugott Blueher. 429. Johann Cornies to Gerhard Enns. 14 April 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/40. Dear friend, Schoolteacher Heese sent me the enclosed notice, delivered by the esteemed Peter Neufeldt. According to the notice, Heese has seemingly

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been urged to return to teaching in the Society School. Since suspicion for this initiative could easily fall on me, I acknowledge that Heese did in fact ask me whether I thought that he could again take over the school on the same terms as before. I responded, saying “why not?” For my part, I have nothing against such an arrangement, but will not undertake to do anything further about the matter. He should communicate with all [School Society] members and declare his desire to them. I do not know what can be done about this now. One cannot say anything further about the matter since his communication only mentions “conditions.” First he must ask Society members if they are inclined to accept him as their schoolteacher again. Only then can the conditions of such an appointment be decided upon. I request your opinion. May you fare well. Your Friend Johann Cornies. 430. Gerhard Dyck to Johann Cornies. 2 April 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/27. Esteemed friend, beloved brother, Since you kindly agreed to my request made through the Village Mayor Abram Klassen for several fine fruit trees, I take the liberty to write these lines with my own weak hand and forward them to you with my son, who will receive the trees. Please forgive me if I now seem to consider your kind assistance to me insufficient and increase this order. Since these trees are hardly enough to involve the use of a horse at this busy season, I would request the additional twenty kruschke trees I need to plant along the village street and and fifteen oaks, fifteen ashes, fifteen birches as replacements in my forest-tree plantation as well as about two hundred mulberry stems for hedges. I need replacement trees because I had previously planted several trees I was unfamiliar with, including black alders and several maples or elms. I do not like them, in fact I find them unsightly, and would very much like to exchange some of them for better trees. The ones I do not like, will find appropriate places around the manure pile on my hearth-site. I do not have the space to plant more trees before I do additional deep-ploughing. I realize I may be asking too much of you. Therefore, beloved friend, respond to my humble request by dealing with this shipment as you see fit, according to your pleasure. Yet, I do very much request that you allow me to have the trees I listed. If I recover and live, I will come to see you as soon as possible. I offer you my most heartfelt thanks for your kindness. Please accept another petition from me. It is probably not unknown to you, valued friend, that, through my wife, I have received an

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inheritance of about one thousand [no currency mentioned], which is probably about the same number of rubles. I would like to use it to the greatest possible advantage in the economic management of my household. I have completed the construction of a new threshing machine and a chaff-cutter and they are ready to be set up, but the space in my present buildings is tight and uncomfortable. Also, in winters as stormy and blustery as the recent one, much of our good fodder had to be stored outside. Much of it spoiled and even more was blown away by fierce storms. This summer I would like to build another structure and a threshing-floor. My humble request is that you kindly give me a loan of 500 rubles, for six months, beginning in May. I leave it to your kindness to determine the interest, since it would not equal the great losses I have annually suffered in the loss of fodder and heating stocks that blow away annually because of my small agricultural buildings. I have a good team and the money at hand to transport the wood for building from the Dnieper myself. I already have my own carpenters and could therefore manage with the sum mentioned. Repeating my most humble requests, and adding also a request that your answer be definite and favourable, I remain, with true love and respect, your most humble friend and brother, Gerhard Dyck. P.S. I hope to have improved my new threshing machine in many ways. Small trials have already convinced me of this. The machine produces cleanly threshed grain of two types, coarse and fine. The chaff on one end is also clearly separated from the straw at the other, so that no worker is required to rake out the straw. In addition it could easily be set up on any threshing-floor of ten to twenty feet wide, and can be transported from neighbour to neighbour and set up each time. If I can, I will prepare a model of it, or at least a drawing and send it to you as soon as possible. The same. 431. Johann Klassen to Johann Cornies. 15 April 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/30.24 Mr. Johann Cornies. Valued friend, Now that the raw winter days have passed and the whole world is dressed in its most beautiful green finery, greater life and hope are again evident among us. Several villages have already completed their necessary fieldwork. 24 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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It is therefore my intention to start travelling around our community to raise contributions for the erection of a new cloth factory. Although I am greatly in your debt, I venture to request that you soon give me your support for such a generally useful endeavour that would involve the replacement of my large property loss. I would also extend my request for a small contribution from those who live on your estate. At the same time, I solicit your influential recommendations and cooperation and sign myself, with all respect, your unfortunate cloth manufacturer, Johann Klassen. 432. Gerhard Enns to Johann Cornies. 17 April 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/53. Dear Friend, Your communication of 14 April, enclosing the note from Teacher Heese, suggests that Heese still holds to his earlier convictions. Specifically, he stopped teaching in the Society school without cause, leaving because of his stubbornness. Since the Society is involved in this matter, Teacher Heese is obliged to ask members of the School Society whether they are inclined to accept him back as the Society’s schoolteacher. Conditions will then follow. 433. Wernersdorf Village Office to Johann Cornies. 24 April 1841. SAOR 89-1-765/1. To the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture in Ohrloff. The Society is hereby notified about a call made during the winter for surplus seed potatoes. At the time we had three and a half chetvert for sale to the Society. Our present communication is about a problem involving Jacob Jantzen of Schoensee who came to us on 6 April to say that the Society had sent him an order to fetch the potatoes. Having accepted the three and a half chetvert and made a deal for them, he has not, however, fetched them and they are still here. I do not know what to do. Some here are dissatisfied because they could have used the potatoes as seed themselves. Now it is too late to do so. The Society is therefore asked to encourage Janzen to come and fetch the potatoes. Village Mayor Epp, Deputies [Rope] and [Heines]

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434. Jacob Neumann to Johann Cornies. SAOR 89-1-749/62. 24 April 1841. To Mr. Johann Cornies, Business Manager of the Society School in Ohrloff, According to a commission received from the esteemed Gerhard Enns of Altonau, I am being asked to convey to you as business manager, my views on the possibility of again hiring H. Heese to teach in our school. My humble judgments are these. Schoolteacher Heese interfered in village matters and went so far as to resign from his service in the school. For a considerable time he tried to shake things up here and there so that he might run a better school. For this reason I was originally opposed to his leaving the school. I am now, however, of another opinion because it is clear that he strayed from the true purpose of the school, and even encouraged the children to learn to dance. This was not admitted or believed at the beginning, but it became obvious as time went on. This was not really the purpose of our school. It also seems to me that the desired contract is too long, involving six years in succession. The salary is likewise too large, since the number of members making voluntary donations for the school’s upkeep is in all likelihood very small. It would seem to me that hardly half of the costs of maintaining the school can be covered by the forty children in attendance. It is still uncertain whether that many children will actually enroll, given that the school suffered great damage because of the matters mentioned above. It is surely necessary to know first where the funds are to be found. For my part, I will leave the handling of this matter to the best insights of the business manager of the school and the two supervisors. Jacob Neumann. 435. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 30 April 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/47v. Baron v. Rosen, I am honoured, in fulfilment of Yr. Honour’s gracious request No. 175 of 9 April, to report on what constitutes the harness used for field work in our settlement, and what it would cost. The usual harness that all Mennonites use to work the land consists of a leather horse collar, neck collar of webbing or leather, cord bridle,

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reins of hemp, and a doubletree of wood and iron. The price of such a harness for two horses is as follows: 2 collars at 7 rubles 14 – 2 neck collars 150 kopeks 3– 2 bridles 70 kopeks 1.40 1 rein 3– 1 doubletree with iron fitting 5.50. Total: 26 rubles 90 kopeks. 436. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 30 April 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/48. Baron Rosen, I am pleased to send the following explanation in response to Yr. Honour’s esteemed communication No. 150 of 24 March. As desirable as it may be to encourage the state peasantry to obtain better and fuller seed grain so that the grain trade might become more profitable for both peasants and merchants, I doubt that the District Chief could even begin to bring this about among the peasants. I further doubt that this could be achieved by setting aside the largest and most perfect ears of grain as seed. Granted, seed capable of germinating is largely dependent on perfect seed. There is no crop where inferior seed produces such a loss, weak plants with few and small kernels. Also blight, a malady dangerous to the production of wheat, can only be reduced through the careful selection of seed. However, seed alone can not ensure the production of high-yield, full-kernelled grain. Productivity also depends on the condition of the soil, its cultivation, and on the amount seeded. This we know from experience. In the first place, to grow perfect kernels, wheat requires soil that has been worked repeatedly in a way that releases raw nutrients. The interaction of such soil with the air will affect the growth of the seed. Soil must be worked in as deeply as possible. Only when it is loosened up can the soil retain its fruitfulness for a longer period of time. Well-worked soil also permits wheat plants to thrive in dry and warm conditions by providing sufficient moisture in the topsoil that is required for good harvests of perfect kernels. Wheat cultivation requires soil rich in nutrients and the knowledge to work it properly. Experience teaches us that wheat can exhaust the soil very quickly. If wheat is to grow to perfection it also requires warmth and sunlight.

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Moreover, sufficient wheat seed must be used. This is more important with wheat than with any other grain. If seeded too thinly, wheat can yield perfect kernels but the crop will be small. The soil will become wild and too thin a stand of wheat plants will produce weeds and weaken its growth. As a result the following crop will be significantly poorer. On the other hand, if seed is sown too thickly the stalks will hinder one another in their growth. They will become spindly, spread out insufficiently, form small ears and produce a limited number of undersized kernels. Therefore, the purpose of delivering better grain for the Berdiansk market cannot be attained simply with the proposed selection of the largest and most perfect ears as seed. It must also be brought about and maintained through the proper cultivation of the soil. However, the peasants in our region are too unenlightened, indolent, and attached to tradition to achieve this goal. They reject everything new with loathing and prejudice. They even lack the field implements needed to prepare fields in ways that would provide sufficient bread for their families over several years of only moderate harvests. Field cultivation for local peasants is still in its infancy and of secondary importance. Their main occupation is livestock breeding and this will remain the case as long as the population is not larger and the cultivated fields have not been apportioned and assigned to every family or individual. If, according to your suggestion, the merchants in Berdiansk are really concerned about making the peasants wealthier by growing better and more perfect grain, then I believe that they themselves can bring this about. Specifically, they should not annually advance money to poor peasants in January and [should] refrain from purchasing the entire production of each harvest in advance and at half the market price. Instead, they should act more prudently and refuse any advances to peasants on their future harvest. The level of wheat prices should be set according to the quality of the kernels, whether perfect or imperfect, which is what merchants do in Germany. It seems to me that the peasants would soon realize that they must ask for advice on how to produce better, fuller wheat kernels for the Berdiansk market that would enable them to obtain the highest prices. This would make it possible for District Chiefs to support the peasants with their advice and, as better and fuller kernels are produced, they could work towards making the rewards of the grain trade more enduring for the merchants as well as for the people of the land.

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437. Gerhard Dyck to Johann Cornies. 1 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-769/12. Honoured and beloved friend, Since I have ordered some seeds for fodder plants, I would like to read something about cultivating them. I have chosen Bergen’s “Viehzucht” (livestock raising) for this purpose. I know that this little work is available in our settlement, but I do no know whether it is in your hands or otherwise available. Do you have it or could I obtain it through your kind intervention, possibly together with my neighbour? I would be in your debt. For how long might I borrow it? I will certainly return it on time. I would also like to read something about timber or forest tree cultivation. Please do not chide me if I humbly ask for an answer to my previous request for a loan of 500 rubles for six months starting in May or for five months starting in June. If it cannot be otherwise, I gladly accept the interest of one percent per month, since every winter robs me of more than this and the one just past took twice as much. Please forgive me for not coming myself but my health does not yet permit it. My feet are so swollen that I cannot bear to drive such a long distance. I have the honour to call myself, with heartiest greetings, your most devoted friend and servant, G. Dyck. 438. Johann Cornies to Jacob Bergmann. 7 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/42v.25 To Jacob Bergmann in Tiege, Accompanied by an official representing the Uezd Supervisor, I have travelled around to examine the potato fields that have been planted as model plantations for the state peasants. They have been planted at the crown’s expense, on the emperor’s order and on the basis of government directives that follow. I would inform you as follows. 1. I investigated the desiatina of potato land at Burkut and found it generally ploughed deeply enough. However, the field is not in a desirable location for good potato cultivation. It is on an incline, and has clay soil in spots. Both apprentices were declared to be incompetent and 25 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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were not accepted for this reason. To replace them, Serse, twenty-eight years old, and Kalil, twenty, were chosen for Burkut. 2. In Edinokhta, the desiatina was ploughed to a sufficient depth, as it should be. However, the apprentices were declared to be incompetent and not accepted. To replace them Seidamet, twenty-seven years old, and Umursak, twenty-six, were chosen. 3. The desiatina at Nevkush was badly ploughed and it seems to me that the potatoes planted were very small and lacking in the ability to germinate. The mounding on this desiatina must be done very well or it will produce nothing at all. Both apprentices were declared to be incompetent and others were chosen in their stead, namely Sefer and Bekballa from Nevkush. 4. In Shuiut Dzhuret the desiatina consists of productive land but the mounding must be done more accurately. The apprentices are Adshigabut, twenty-seven years old from Shugut Dshuret, and Kurmash, twenty-nine from Jantran. The apprentices at each of the villages should be available to you whenever you make a request through the Elders. To ensure that everything is put in order ahead of time, the Elders have been sternly reminded to give you a team of horses, lodgings, and all necessary assistance. They should also give you a messenger on horseback to travel from one village to the next, should that be necessary. The mounding must be done with two good, strong, tame horses, which they must provide, so that mounding can be completed at as deep a level as possible. All Elders have been made responsible for preventing damage to their potato fields. You do not have to concern yourself with this. Also, no one is permitted to work on the potato field unless you are present. You should order the Elders to observe this rule at all times. 439. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Balzer. 7 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/44.26 I am informing you: 1. At Astrakhanka, the desiatina for a potato field has not been ploughed deeply enough, but the potatoes were otherwise found to have been planted as ordered. The apprentices, Senovei Androsov and Semen Ignatov, the first twenty-four, the latter twenty-two years old,

26 Ibid.

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both from Astrakhanka, have been confirmed as suitable to learn practical potato cultivation. 2. In Novovasilievka, the inspection showed that the Elder hired someone to do the ploughing. Since the Elder has no interest in introducing potato cultivation, the ploughing did not take place in his presence and was shallow and badly done. Four chetverik of leftover potatoes were bought by the Elder for five rubles and planted. Please check with the individuals who received the potatoes from the crown at each inspection and teach them how these must be handled. The apprentice from Novospaskoe was not accepted, and Pavel Kusitskin, twenty-five years of age, was chosen instead and confirmed, as was Peter Chetverikov, who had been hired earlier. 3. At Bulutmik, the desiatina of potatoes was ploughed to only a moderate depth while the other jobs were accomplished according to rule. Only one of the apprentices, Adshinir, twenty-five years old, has been retained, and Agale from Konurbas was chosen instead of the other one. Both were confirmed. The secretary consumed the half chetverik of potatoes left over. 4. At Egaitamgale, the areas with couch grass that you reported are not the only major defect on the potato field. It must be stressed that the whole desiatina was badly ploughed. It required much effort and work mounding. Both apprentices, Isaak from Egaitamgale and the other from Shanshekle, have been confirmed. 5. At Alteul, the desiatina was found to have been well ploughed. The apprentices Tulke from Alteul and Norlubai from Koiasi Oglu have both been confirmed. According to a statement by the secretary and the Elder, there was not a chetvert of potatoes left but only seven chetveriks. When you go there, please ensure that the records agree with this. The Elder has been ordered to sell them in Berdiansk. 6. At Shekle, the desiatina was also found to be very well ploughed. Of the apprentices, only one Koslak, thirty years old, from Kakbas, was approved. Kuti Oraskakaiev, a twenty-year-old from Shekle, is the new choice, and both were confirmed. The apprentices (instructions repeat those in document 438). 440. Traugott Blueher to Johann Cornies. 8 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-769/25. Sincerely beloved and treasured friend,

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Business prospects are no better since I last communicated with you on 4 April. Indeed, the situation is even darker. A few days ago, Aristarov, an important local wool merchant who purchased Spanish wool from several Mennonites over a number of years, declared himself bankrupt. He had a debt of two million rubles. Merchant Kimov, who in the last three to four months experienced failures involving several million rubles, had to pay 40,000 to the local administration. With insufficient means and in despair he jumped from a bridge into the Moscow River in broad daylight, in the presence of several observers. He injured himself so badly that he is not expected to live. Fourteen days ago, the German manufacturer who had bought your wool for several years, purchased some 1800 puds of Polish wool for thirty-five rubles a pud. After it was washed, half had dropped in quality and the rest fetched prices below the price for medium varieties of wool. Despite last spring’s poor market expectations, local manufacturers continued to pay high prices for wool that occasioned large shipments to arrive from Poland. This is unlikely to be the case this summer. Prices here are no longer acceptable to the Poles, who can sell their wool for more in Warsaw, after the deduction of costs. This is our situation. Grain prices are low. This has resulted in a greater demand for other goods, raising hopes that prices for wool will be somewhat better in autumn. Actually, because of the large supplies of wool still in storage, only unusual circumstances could bring back earlier prices. My instruction to you that you might purchase wool for me at a price of twenty rubles per pud now seems too risky, given present circumstances. Please do not pay more than seventeen rubles per pud for 800 puds of good, washed wool. If purchases can be made at an even lower price of no more than fifteen rubles at most, please purchase 1500 puds. Should purchases have been made already at twenty rubles per pud, the transaction should remain unchanged. I have sold stored washed wool of ca. 2,000 puds from the Khortitsa community to the German manufacturer at forty-two rubles per pud on payment terms of five months. To the extent that one might risk predictions in these uncertain times, I would expect that this payment will be made. With greetings of heartfelt love I remain your faithful friend, Traugott Blueher.

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441. Peter Stobbe (Tashchenak) to Johann Cornies. 11 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-441/11. Esteemed sir, The tile-maker’s illness returned with great ferocity at 8 a.m. yesterday and he has not spoken a single word since. He complained about roaring and ringing in his head and pains in his chest where he wanted leeches to be put. He is tortured by a cough. I am afraid to set leeches on his chest because he is weak, and I will do so only if you order me to. He is now lying here, speechless. Your devoted servant Peter Stobbe. 442. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 15 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/51. Baron Rosen, New arrangements and regulations to improve the situation of state peasants in our district are being impeded by enemies of innovation and improvement. To further their own interests, several people have spread false rumours among state peasants, wishing to incite them to disobedience and to provoke the dismissal of the District Chief. As an example of their negative influence on the state peasantry, I would mention a matter that recently occurred in the Nogai villages of Edinokhta and Burkut. As Yr. Honour knows, these villages submitted petitions almost two years ago asking for permission to resettle on the basis of [existing] rules and regulations. This was agreed to and about ten days ago they came and requested that I survey their drawings in a way that would permit them to move ahead with the building of their houses as soon as possible. On May 12, in response to their desire to settle quickly, I sent my son to survey the site and to mark it off. When he arrived in these villages, however, the Nogais showed themselves indifferent. Most told us that they did not wish to resettle and would not provide us with workers and ploughs to mark off the new villages. Even the assistant to the District Chief, Mr. Andreevskii, who was present, could not move them to provide the needed people and ploughs. This sudden change of mind seems to have been inspired by several mullahs and mursahs, specifically one of the former, Kurban Adshe from First Burkut and two of the latter, Aligere Mursa from Edinokhta and Bati Mursa of Shokai. They have been inciting disorder at the instigation

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of the former assessor (zasedatel), Efimenko, and several lower court officials. Efimenko was here to see me in Ohrloff on 10 May, and used very rude language about the District Chief. Speaking in the plural, he said “We will chase the Chief from his position.” He told me that “the whole district also laments your support of the Chief.” I did not consider Efimenko’s behaviour in my house important enough to give it further thought. Like everyone else, I know that he is a bad person with a vile character. Yet now that I am encountering facts that could seriously impede progress, I cannot but surmise that Efimenko is responsible for the situation along with others who are of the same mind. As a faithful subject I feel obliged, in good conscience, to notify Yr. Honour in this regard. I firmly believe that the District Chief must have more information about this ill-disposed group. Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee, Johann Cornies. 443. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen and C. Steven. 17 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/54v.27 Baron v. Rosen and State Counsellor v. Steven, I am honoured to humbly report to Yr. Honour about the individuals who, since my last report, have been sent to me to learn practical agriculture. 1. On 20 February, a state peasant youth, Khariton Prilepka from the village of Novogrigorievka in Melitopol Uezd, eighteen years old, was sent to me by the Chernigovka administration. 2. On 20 March, the Nogai Umursok Kibash-oglu from the village of Mustapoi in Dneprov Uezd, fifteen years old, was sent to me by the Mustapoi District Office. 3. On 20 March, the Khirgiz Kolmombet Utei-oglu from the village of Koitshi in Dneprov Uezd, twenty-one years old, was sent to me by the Airtshin District Office. 4. On 16 April, the Tatar Abibula Abduraman Oglu from the village of Barash in the Perekop District, age not given, was sent to me by the Melitopol Uezd supervisor.

27 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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5. On 1 April, the state peasant girl Evdokia Ovsanikova from Dneprov Uezd, thirteen years old, was sent to me by the Serogo District Office. 6. On 9 April, the state peasant girl Matrona Shelemechina from the same uezd, age not given, was sent to me by the Snamenskii District Office. Together with the newly arrived six persons and taking into account the death of one who was already here, namely Varlami Gubka, there are now eight youths and four girls who have been sent to me to learn practical agriculture. Johann Cornies. 444. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 17 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/56. Governor Muromtsev, I consider the promise that I gave Yr. Excellency in Novoaleksandrovka that I would advance you 5000 paper rubles to purchase wool through Fein as sacred and firm. I forward this sum to you with young Mr. Koloshov. I must, however, regretfully explain to Yr. Excellency that my economic situation does not permit me to spare this sum of money on terms lasting several months. I am in straitened circumstances because my last year’s wool has not yet been sold in Moscow. Moreover, there are no buyers for any of the cattle and other products that I have already put up for sale this year. A great shortage of money prevails in our settlements. Field work such as haying and grain harvesting will soon be upon us and that too requires a large outlay of money. I would therefore politely request that Yr. Excellency repay this sum as soon as possible, though I leave the month and day to your own determination. Please send me a few lines to tell me that you have received the money in good order. I request your continued well-inclined benevolence and remain, with complete esteem and respect, Yr. Excellency’s devoted servant Johann Cornies. 445. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 20 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/58. Mr. Blueher in Moscow, I received your most valued letter dated 4 April 1841 in good order, as well as the copy.

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Although circumstances are developing sadly at the present time, we still have the joyful assurance and belief that God directs everything for the best. By surrendering to His will we gain the assurance that He does not always give us what we want but what He determines will lead to our salvation. The shortage of money has become very pressing, prices for all products are falling, and there are no orders or buyers for wool here, except from Odessa. The conditions from Odessa set limits to purchases of twenty rubles per pud for washed wool. On your account, I have already agreed to prices of not more than fifteen rubles per pud for washed wool, but I cannot predict with certainty whether the whole quantity of 800 puds will be available at this price. A little more than 500 puds of good wool is available here, at the most for seventeen rubles, fifty kopeks. I had intended to buy this quantity especially for you, even if it were possible to obtain the full 800 pud at fifteen rubles. In the meantime, I can still not report anything more definite, because sheepshearing only begins tomorrow. As I have in the past, I will take care of the outlays for you and try to pursue your interests conscientiously. Thank you for obtaining the agricultural newspapers. I am now receiving them. I am short of time, so enough for now. More next time. Change governs the world, but our sentiments and benevolence remain unchangeable. This is a consolation and gentle comfort. May you and yours fare well. This is the heartfelt wish of your devoted servant and friend, Johann Cornies. 446. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 20 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/57. Mr. Keppen, I received your esteemed communication of 7 April 1841 in good order. To my regret, I realized that you had not received my letter of 10 July 1840 that I sent to the city of Vladimir. I enclose a copy. Please have the barometer you had made for me sent to the Sarepta commercial firm, Soerensen et. Comp., in Moscow, for forwarding to me. Enclosed is payment and the account. I will settle freight charges from Petersburg to Moscow with Mr. Soerensen. Observations with the rain-gauge are for now being made only in Ohrloff. Since greater efforts have started in our district to improve the facilities for state peasants, opponents and enemies of positive action are

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awakening and trying to create confusion. It is easy to discover their intentions, which are their own self-interest. Whatever is positive will remain positive and eventually see the light of day. Because of the opposition it will be more deeply grounded. Still it is sad and regrettable that so much time is wasted that could have been better used to achieve much that is good. This letter is accompanied by the most honest wishes for Yr. good health. With special esteem and sincere love, I remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 447. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 20 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/59.28 State Counsellor v. Keppen, I recently heard from the Prussian Mennonites that, to their joy, the oppressive conditions under which they had found themselves as recently as a year ago have now seemingly turned to their advantage. The king has graciously responded to their expressions of homage and congratulations. His exact words were: “I will in future maintain undiminished the protection which the Mennonites have enjoyed under my illustrious ancestors.” All offices of the Prussian administration where Mennonites live have been asked to submit advice about the conditions under which the Mennonites could be granted the right to purchase land freely. This gives them reason to believe that some of the advice will work to their advantage. In their most recent meeting, held in February, they decided that under present conditions they would draw back from their important intention to resettle in Russia and not continue to pursue this purpose, especially also because permission from the Prussian government to send a deputation to St. Petersburg might be difficult to obtain under present conditions. I commend myself to your continued benevolence and remain, with the most complete esteem, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies.

28 Regarding the proposed immigration of Prussian Mennonites, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 266, 323, 324, 361, 392, 422, 447.

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448. Johann Cornies to District Office. 20 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/60. To the highly honoured Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, Vassili Ivanov, Georgi Ivanov, Ivan Elisanov, and Mikhail Kostanov, Persian subjects from Chanot Urmo, specifically from the village of Supurchan, belong to the Greek religion. With the government’s permission, they have come to the Russian Empire to collect monies for the release of three boys and one girl kidnapped from their gardens by Turkish Kurds in April of last year. These children are to be sold in the Poshalik Hotel in Turkey. They need a total of seventy Persian Tuma or 350 silver rubles to obtain their release. They have requested that I direct a few lines to the local District Office requesting a certificate of permission entered in their passports that would enable them to ask for charitable assistance in our villages. For this reason, I feel obligated to direct these lines to the esteemed District Office. 449. Johann Cornies to Gustav Janzen. 25 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/61. Very dear friend, Would you please make a suckling mug to suckle small children within the next eight days and send it me no later than the time mentioned above. Should it take longer than eight to ten days, however, it would not be of any use to me. With a greeting, your friend Johann Cornies. 450. Johann Cornies to David Voth. 20 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/61v. Dear friend, The time has come for me to collect the debt you owe me, even more so because I find myself in a difficult situation. I have had no income for a year. My wool is stored unsold in Moscow and I need money every day. It is impossible for me to extend my patience and you must find a way to discharge your debt. To have patience until times are better might seem sensible to you but I cannot wait. There is no other way. May you fare well, with greetings. Your friend Johann Cornies.

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451. Abraham Wiebe to Johann Cornies. 31 May 1841. SAOR 89-1-769/32. Valued friend, Enclosed, I am sending you 5000 rubles as a down payment on my large debt and ask you kindly to take note of this fact. I also very much request your consideration, since I am only sending half of what I promised you three weeks ago. Once it is possible for me to pay more I will do so. Since the price of wheat has dropped during the month in which I sold a large quantity, I would like to wait before selling more, should my debt not make this absolutely necessary. Kindly give me your opinion about this matter. With hearty greetings, I sign myself as your friend, Abraham Wiebe. 452. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 17 June 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/64v. Mr. Blueher, Please excuse me for not letting you know earlier about my son’s marriage that took place on 17 April.29 As parents, we are completely satisfied with his choice. He has brought us a sensitive daughter who shares his filial sentiments. Her education is what is customary among us, but she is a careful and pious person brought up to domesticity and modesty. She has all of the qualities of a good wife, a sensible housekeeper, and a loving mother. Aged twenty-seven, she is a year younger than our son and a sister in our congregation. As parents we hope that this marriage will increase our happiness and lighten our burdens. We know that you and your dear wife will share in this family event and join us in our pleas to the Lord for His blessings. We will consider your heartfelt sympathy a renewed and beautiful confirmation of our friendship as it continues to endure. My dear wife and family share with you lively feelings of love and affection. All this allows me to call myself your lifelong and faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. Please send me four jars of unadulterated Makasar oil and two funt of first-quality mustard along with the Russian carter and put the charges on my account.

29 Johann Jr. married Justina Willms, the stepdaughter of Wilhelm Martens, on 17 April 1841. She died in 1847.

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453. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 19 June 1841. SAOR 89-1-762/8. From the Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, State Counsellor Baron Rosen. Simferopol. To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, The Minister of State Domains, Count Kiselev, on 14 May 1841, ordered me to submit to him my views regarding existing breeds of horses among state peasants. He included a copy of a communication sent by the Minister to economic organizations on the subject of the propagation of a better breed of horses. To obtain views needed for such a purposeful undertaking among state peasants in this guberniia, especially in the Melitopol and Dneprov uezds, I turn to you with the humble request that you provide me with answers to the questions contained in the above-mentioned copy of the circulated communication. That would enable me to submit cogent thoughts to the Minister about the least costly means for the purpose of such an undertaking. You have had a stud farm for a long time yourself. Also, your many years of residence in southern Russia and your various enterprises have given you the opportunity to obtain precise information about profitable arrangements in various branches of the economy. Your own experience enables you to suggest measures to bring about a better breed of horses for state peasants. Could horses suitable for an improvement of the breed be found among the Doukhobors? I have noticed that these people distinguish themselves above other state peasants in this respect. Should this be the case, costs for improvements in the breeding of horses would be lower than if horses for this purpose were sought in distant guberniias. What, in your opinion, are the guberniias you would suggest as a source for strong horses to improve a breed of good draft-horses? What do you think of such an approach and how might it be implemented? I would appreciate your detailed answer. B. v. Rosen. 454. Johann Cornies to August Woelke [Wilke]. 25 June 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/66v. Dear Mr. Woelke,

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I have received only one letter from you dated 7 June. I must admit that I had thought it strange that I did not hear from you after you had visited me in Ohrloff and received a loan. What is the reason for your failure to appear? Settlers from our area have said this and that, but I was not prepared to believe any of them and did not know what to think. Now, however, my mind is at ease and I very gladly forgive you. With respect to the vacant gardener’s position, I can say that the conditions of employment are exactly what they were in the past. You know that I am no friend of change. I keep people as long as I can tolerate them. The garden at Tashchenak has not yet been established, although the land for it has been prepared. The garden cannot be planted this year because the main dwelling is still under construction. My son has married and will move in this coming autumn, taking over management of this estate. The garden will therefore be planted in the year beginning this coming autumn, but arrangements will need to be made already this year. Would you like to enter my service again? I would be pleased if we could reach an agreement in this regard. But should you have better prospects of making progress elsewhere, the sum that you owe me will not keep me from wishing you well. I leave it to you to repay the loan in instalments. In any case, however, whether in life or in death, a settlement of what you owe me must be made. This could best happen this summer when my son or brother David Cornies will travel to the Crimea. One of them could stop by your home to conclude an agreement about this matter. We are, God be praised, still quite well, which I wish you and your family as well. I remain, as in the past, your honest Johann Cornies. 455. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 28 June 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/68. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Your letters of 30 May and 2 June reached me yesterday and I am thankful for your interesting reports. The wool, mine and part of yours, was already on its way to Moscow. Because it seems that the price of wool is beginning to rise here as well, as indicated by a few buyers from outside, I am in complete agreement that the wool should be stored until autumn. I will, however, try to send your wool still stored here as cheaply as possible this summer. The idea of arranging to send dried fruit to Moscow is interesting. As you say, it is a matter that is deserving of attention in our region.

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Nothing in this regard can be undertaken this year, however, because appropriate arrangements cannot so easily be made given the great distances between our villages involved. Still, let us try to do what we can and perhaps begin with a few puds of dried fruit next year. I commend myself to you and your family most kindly, and remain, with greetings, your faithfully loving friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 456. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 28 June 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/69v. State Counsellor v. Steven in Simferopol, I am pleased to report to Yr. Honour that the Nogai Kurtamet Dshanibek-Ogli from Mostapoi delivered the Hamala seeds in good condition, in sacks weighing twenty-four puds two funt, as you kindly informed me on June 9. I do not yet know how soon I will be able to forward them to Taganrog. The traffic from here to Taganrog is infrequent and insignificant and the quantity is too small to fill an entire cart. Carters, especially the Nogais, charge for freight by the cart and it makes no difference to them whether they load fifty to sixty puds, or only twenty. Freight from Feodosia and Taganrog costs from thirtyfive to forty rubles [a cart], and I doubt that I can hire a cart to take the seed to Taganrog more cheaply than that. I would humbly ask whether you are willing to pay such a high price. Moreover, please forgive my inability to let you know immediately about the dispatch of the first quantity of seed and my outlay of two silver rubles to the carter for the freight. The seeds were forwarded at a time when I was very busy with the introduction of potato cultivation in this district.30 It is a matter that continues to occupy me now. You will of course know that thirty-nine desiatinas of land on the cultivated fields have been planted with potatoes for state peasants in thirty-nine village communities. Judging by their growth, all promise a good, productive harvest. It is highly desirable that this first example will turn out well. To a large extent, the rapid introduction of potato cultivation among the peasants depends on the success of this attempt.

30 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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It requires much effort and travel to introduce this useful branch of agriculture permanently among the peasants. I have been partly compensated for my efforts by the pleasure it has given me to discover that in almost every village there are peasants interested in introducing the cultivation of potatoes. In fact, several peasants have told me that next year they would themselves like to grow potatoes on a large scale of a half or even a whole desiatina and would like to learn systematic potato cultivation. Success in this undertaking will be my complete reward. I think that in three or four years, if encouragement and support for potato cultivation are maintained, potatoes will have been planted on several hundred desiatinas of cultivated fields belonging to state peasants in Melitopol district. This is an indication of the improvement of agriculture that will stimulate peasants to work harder. Drought followed a fruitful spring, grass on the steppes stopped growing, and only a few areas provided enough grass to make hay. But heavy rainstorms three weeks ago have now revived the grass and we can count on making quite a bit of hay where this occurred. Some of the grain has short stalks with imperfectly developed ears, but most grain is standing well and, in villages along the Molochnaia from Altonau to Tokmak, promises a productive harvest. It is not growing as well in villages from Ohrloff to Rueckenau, and moderately poorly in the eastern part of the District, especially in villages along the Iushanle from Lichtfelde to Marienthal. Here, the rain did not arrive in time and, as a result, the average harvest in the whole District will be less than last year. As for fruit, apples hang thick on the trees, but there are fewer pears. There are many early cherries, especially of a delicate variety, and quite a few of the late varieties. We will have few apricots and no peaches. We have hopes of a considerable quantity of Zwetschke plums to judge by appearances. The weather was good for sericulture. Silkworm culture has thrived so that the puppa stage was regular from the start and an exceptionally good silk harvest can be expected. The price here for washed wool was fifteen rubles per pud. There is no demand for ewes or geldings. In Berdiansk, wheat prices range from fourteen to fifteen rubles per pud. Here in the villages rye is priced at ten to twelve rubles per pud, as is butter. There is a great shortage of money generally but the trades and building construction are, as in past years, proceeding at an uninterrupted pace. With the most perfect esteem and respect, I remain etc.

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457. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 29 June 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/72V.31 Baron v. Rosen, Yr. Honour, I think it is my duty to respectfully submit notes in connection with the comments I made in May and June after my inspection of the potato fields in the local district. I found that few of the thirty-nine Elders involved have the abilities and qualifications to carry out the responsibilities of their office. Especially unqualified are the Elders of the following districts: 1. The Elder in Nevkush village community is deceitful, greedy, and uses his position only to further his own interests; 2. The Elder in Achilchosha village community is a drunkard and very disorderly; 3. The Elder in Shekle village community, who lies like a master and makes excuses for himself, lacks the intelligence to fill his position as Elder. These three should be removed as examples to their fellows. The Buletmek village community secretary lives in Nogaisk and has hired a married helper for the district community, whom he pays a salary of 100 rubles. The Elder and secretary for the Nevkush district work hand-in-hand in plundering the peasants. Last week the latter broke open a sealed letter I had sent to Ali about state potato cultivation in Shuiut Dzhuret. He did so in the presence of the Shuiut Dzhuret secretary and the local village community secretary. The breaking of sealed letters by secretaries is said to happen often in this community, as Ali has complained to me. The best Elders are in the village communities of Alteul and Unekibeshul, and I will be honoured to report to you about them when I have tested their qualifications more closely. When you travel through Beshul, the small, clean dwelling of the Elder is worthy of your visit. In the village community of Iugastamgale the secretary keeps a helper, his brother, for a salary of 150 rubles. The Elder in Chernigovka is a phlegmatic old man who despises all regulations. He carries out his duties only when under the direct

31 Ibid.

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supervision of his superiors. Like his secretary, the Elder of the village community of Kopani is a drunkard. The Elder of Tokmak is quite useless. The Elders of Mikhailovka and Balak are great drunkards who, for this reason, are incapable of administering anything. Among these five Elders, those in Kopani, Tokmak, and Mikhailovka should be dismissed immediately, as should the head in Tokmak. The latter occupies his office less out of a sense of duty than because of the opportunity it gives him to extort money from the peasantry. The best Elders are to be found in Astrakhanka and Andreevskii, where the head is also worthy of praise for his honesty and good regulations. Equally praiseworthy are the Elders in Malokmak and Olsheretovataia, of whom the latter is particularly good. After closer examination, I will write a special report about the good Elders. The Elder in Novovasilievka could perform well as a good Elder if he did not own land that he purchased for himself. For this reason, the well-being of the village community is not close to his heart and he only does what the devious village secretary can persuade him to do. The secretary was earlier involved in the Molokan settlements, where he enriched himself. He should also be removed because he encourages the community to resist anything that is new. The Kadia Adshi, resident in First Burkut, is generally known as an avaricious person. For a number of years he used every kind of intrigue to instigate discord among the Nogais, especially between married couples. He interferes everywhere where he can extort money. He is, in a word, a detestable individual who disturbs the peace and prevents anything positive from developing. He should have been dismissed from office long ago and stricken from the clerical order. The Nogai Kalu Beheiev from First Burkut has already moved most of his possessions to the newly planned village site and begun to build according to the rules and regulations. Now, however, he complains that his daughter-in-law refuses to move with them. Incited by evil minds, she is doing what she can to obtain a divorce from her husband because of the resettlement. Yesterday, the father-in-law, Kalu, reported this incident to the Elder, who simply replied, “I will see.” Travel route: it is twenty-five verstas to Novovasilievka; the potato field very close to Kisildingoglu is five verstas from the new settlement; Shuiut Dzhuret twelve; Achilchosha thirty-two; Ulkinbeshkekle twelve; Nogaisk ten; Bulutmek seven; Iugarkamgale ten with the potato field close by; Alteul sixteen; Shekle twenty-five where the secretary seems to be good; Unekibeshal eight with a bad secretary; Second Kahasch

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six, new settlement; Chernigovka twenty; Schoensee twelve; Tokmak twelve; Halbstadt seven; Prishib two; Mikhailovka twenty. ## In addition to my notes about the situation with the Elders in the local district submitted to Yr. Honour on 29 June, I would add that the inhabitants of the model settlement of Akkerman have asked that they be placed on a level with other villages in regard to community obligations of taxes and travel services.32 They were granted five years of exemption in this regard by His Excellency, Count Vorontsov, in order that they might build houses and establish themselves. This period ended on 1 January 1840, one-and-a-half years ago. In point of fact, it is clear that this period of free years has been of no benefit to the residents of Akkerman. Indeed, they have simply become more lazy in improving their own economies. To promote greater activity and thrift, they should now be obliged to discharge tax and travel services equal to that of other inhabitants of this district. The [Akkerman] police official knows how to make insinuations to the Nogais to undermine them, and they respond with great indifference to the regulations of the government. He does this to gain the advantage of grazing his sheep flocks and those of the district advocate on Nogai lands without charge or for small payments, and to harvest free hay. He trades in wheat and drygoods, and this occupies him to such an extent that he neglects his office. For this reason alone, he deserves to be removed from office. 458. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 2 July 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/77. His Honour, Mr. Baron, When I reached home, I checked the date when the letter had been forwarded to Moscow and found that it had been dropped off at the post office on 9 May. When I estimate that the letter should have taken three weeks to reach you and that the remittance of money to Simferopol would likewise take three weeks, I realized it would not reach you in Simferopol before 21 July. I therefore immediately took measures to ensure that you would receive this money earlier, as you desire, sending my assistant to you with 9750 rubles. Please accept it from him.

32 Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, n12, and docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610.

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To save postal charges, I would request that you drop off the 10,000 rubles that should reach you from Moscow when you travel through this area during the minister’s journey. The 9750 rubles plus the 5550 rubles [still outstanding] equals 10,000 paper rubles. I am sorry that I could not keep my promise more promptly. Circumstances of the times have caused me such difficulties in my business affairs that I ask you for your kind consideration. I consider myself to be particularly honoured, with true esteem and devotion, to be Yr. Honour’s always willing servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. A small mistake had crept into the notes that I had the honour to submit to Yr. Honour on 23 June at my Iushanle estate. There is no village called Alsheretovatoie, as mentioned there. It was Verbovaia in Orekhov Uezd. Today, a fifteen-year-old boy, small of stature, was sent to me to learn agriculture. Were he a little older, he might well have the ability to learn what is needed, but I doubt he could master enough in six years. It will be two or three years before he has sufficient strength to be put to work. Would Yr. Honour please be so kind as to have another boy sent to me who is older, stronger, and of good conduct. He should, if possible, be able to read and write so that he can teach his comrades. I will send the fifteen-year-old back. 459. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 29 July 1841. SAOR 89-1-757/16.33 Dear Mr. Cornies, Do you have enough of a command of the Russian language to carry on my official correspondence with you in that language, or do you have a secretary who could? The Minister would very much like to have a copy of the constitution and organization of your entire community that would permit him to establish Russian villages in accordance with it. You will communicate this to me completely and in a straightforward manner. May God grant that among the many good things existing in your community some can be applied to the Russian population, mainly to reduce drunkenness and the large number of holidays [during which no work is done]. As is clear, the Minister would like to see the conditions of the peasantry improve.

33 Regarding Minister of State Domains Kiselev’s request for a description of the Mennonite “constitution,” see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 459, 462, 503, 521.

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Harvesting has been completed along the coast but unfortunately the crop is extremely poor. There was a good harvest only beyond the mountains in the interior and exceptional in some of the settlements. On the steppes the yield was moderate to very poor. Oats failed generally and there was little barley. Of the millet seeded later, none had yet germinated when I visited my steppe estate two weeks ago. We have had little rain anywhere, and the unrelenting heat has kept the millet from germinating. As for temperatures, they became a little more bearable yesterday, twenty-two degrees instead of twenty-six or -seven degrees at noon. We had our first ripe grapes a few days ago, Silvaner and Gutedal. Some other grapes are starting to colour. Prices are twenty rubles per pud for wheat, fifteen to sixteen for rye, twelve for barley, nine for oats, and ten for potatoes. May you fare well, your respectful C. Steven. 460. Traugott Blueher to Johann Cornies. 1 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/8. Mr. Johann Cornies, Ohrloff village, Beloved Friend, Your esteemed communication of 28 June was a delight for me. I was very pleased that the idea of selling dried fruit here might, in future, be realized to our mutual advantage. Although the slight rise in the price of Spanish wool at the Romen market over the last few days led several buyers to visit our premises, the offers were still too low to warrant any sales. I did, however, manage to sell the wool of the Molochnaia District Office for thirty-five rubles to a buyer because he liked its cleanliness, but once he had it in his possession he raised so many issues with me that I am sure I will have to take the shipment back. I still hope that if the Nizhni Novgorod market improves for sellers, there might be a firmer basis for wool prices, since local supplies of wool will drop and overall prices for wool rise.34 Your two shipments of wool dispatched on 13 June and 23 June have arrived, but both are from five to ten funt per ball underweight, the result of hot weather and the absence of rain enroute.

34 The annual fair at Nizhni Novgorod was Russia’s largest and played a critical role in both internal and international trade in the empire. See Anne Lincoln Fitzpatrick, The Great Russian Fair: Nizhnii Novgorod, 1840–90 (Houndmills: Macmillan, 1990).

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Because the most important silk buyers are presently away, I cannot sell the two crates of silk you sent me. I will deal with this matter as soon as conditions permit. I sent along the bill with the carter who will deliver the two funt of Sarepta mustard and four jars of maccassar oil to you. Many thanks for the cheeses you kindly sent along. As we enjoy it we will naturally think fondly of your dear family. The carter told us that you are thinking of visiting us. This would give us much pleasure. We would try to make your stay pleasant. Should you visit us my wife asks that you bring Agnes along. I commend myself to your friendly remembrance, and greet you with heartfelt love. Your faithful friend, Traugott Blueher. 461. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 5 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/83. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Your valued communication dated 11 July 1841 arrived in good order, with a remittance of 7000 rubles. Baron v. Rosen has informed me that he also received the 10,000 rubles in Simferopol. We have bought the specified quantity of wool, except for about 150 puds. It is now no longer possible to buy wool for fifteen rubles per pud. Since little wool is left in storage and prices have already risen to twenty rubles and more, I have decided to make no further purchases for you. I will soon send an exact report. Although it is no longer possible to send the already purchased wool to you by ox-cart I can send it to Moscow just as cheaply with carters who often arrive here with merchant wares from the Kharkov market. I have been ill for the past three weeks but am now better, thank God. The state of health in our community is generally unsatisfactory and no one remembers so much illness since our arrival in Russia. There are sick people in almost every house, most with fever, and there were five in my house. One hears of few deaths, however. We expect the Minister of State Domains here in the next few days. Kindly commend me to your whole house and may you enjoy good health and a cheerful spirit. I remain, with sincere love, your devoted friend and servant, Johann Cornies.

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462. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 5 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/81v.35 State Counsellor v. Steven in Simferopol, I received your most esteemed communication of 24 July 1841. I will start to collect and prepare the most detailed information about the constitution of our villages, but must report that my secretary, my daughter, and my daughter-in-law are all still ill. I am, God be praised, in the best of condition, but still very weak. I would therefore ask that this work be delayed until I have made a complete recovery. The health of people in our villages is generally unsatisfactory. There is hardly a house without one or more sick individuals. No one can remember such a time before. The death rate is not unusual, however. The heat was almost unbearable. Rain did not follow its usual pattern, but was so heavy in places that the soil was moistened to a great depth and the vegetation has revived. Harvesting was completed safely. We will have a surplus of all varieties of grain for sale. Wool has kept its price, rising to as much as twenty-two rubles per pud for washed wool. However, there have been no buyers yet for wheat or other varieties of grain. When Mr. Inspector Shishko was here last autumn, he asked us to reel our silk more coarsely, specifically up to eighteen and twenty threads, and promised to undertake its sale at a good price on consignment in the Crimea. We now have more than four puds of silk reeled as requested and there may well be another two puds to go. We do not know, however, whether so much silk can be sold advantageously in the Crimea. Our doubts rose after your valued letter of 8 July suggested I send the supplies of silk you have accumulated over the years to Moscow. We are not certain about the direction we should now take and what would best serve the interests of our producers. Please, Yr. Honour, Mr. State Counsellor, give us your advice and expert opinion. I and my secretaries do not have a good enough command of the language to conduct official correspondence on important matters in Russian. I anxiously anticipate your gracious answer and remain, with assurances of my true esteem, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies.

35 Ibid.

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463. From C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 12 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-757/18. Dear Mr. Cornies, His Excellency, the Minister of State Domains, has reiterated his wishes that you might try to talk some Mennonite families into moving to model settlements in the Odessa and [Gagen] areas. He seemed to think of hiring one man or one family for each settlement to give guidance in the field of agriculture. This matter has now been re-evaluated and it seems more to the purpose to settle three or four agriculturalists in each settlement, provided with enough land and other support. The Aleksanderdorf estate is in the vicinity of the German colonies, thirtyfive verstas from Odessa, and the second one in Gagen, not far from the Molochnaia. I am sure that with such advantageous terms, it should not be difficult to find a large number of people to settle there. The Minister expects you to suggest skilful and clever agriculturalists. Please let me know about the results of your initiatives. The resettlement of a number of Mennonite families from Germany to the Crimea has been under discussion. The government would support the initiative, but its wishes are that a larger number be recruited for settlement on the east side of the Volga close to the German colonies established there around seventy years ago. The government has enough land at its disposal to accommodate several thousand families. The proximity of the Volga would provide an easy market for your products. The government would like to see several villages established at the same time and this would also be to the settlers’ advantage. More villages might be added later on, as in the case of the Molochnaia settlement. Please make inquiries about this offer among your correspondents. I think that once the government has been given advance notice, deputies might inspect the land themselves. The Minister also asks about the Khortitsa Mennonite settlement. Is it as highly developed as is the Molochnaia settlement? If not, why is it lagging behind and what should be done to advance its progress? With great respect, C. Steven, Inspector for Agriculture in the southern guberniias. 464. Johann Cornies to District Office. 13 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/85. Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt,

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The following serfs are being sent to you so that further arrangements can be made for them. They were apprehended at my Iushanle estate by my head shepherd, Luka Maloi. They belong to the estate owner Pavel Petrovich Anzebashev in Kharkov Guberniia. They are Nikifor Metelov, with his wife Afrosini, and his brother Prokhom. 465. Phillipp Mathias to Johann Cornies. 18 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/3. Most valued Mr. Cornies, Please do not think badly of me because I am again failing to keep my promise to settle my debt with you. At the present time, I have still not received any money from my creditors. The money I very much depended on should reach me by spring. I also bought a number of animals for slaughter, more than a hundred head, and planned to slaughter all of them by August. Because of the downward turn in business, I still have over half of them. This is also the case with my sheep. In addition, the time to order new wares from Kharkov is constantly getting closer. Despite these circumstances, please do not be concerned. I will pay the interest charges on my loan in the next few days and hope to repay the principal sum by St. Martin’s Day. By that time I should have taken in some ten thousand rubles. I remain your humble friend and servant, Phillipp Matthias. 466. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 18 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/88.36 From the corresponding member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains. [To] His Honour, Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, State Counsellor and Knight, Baron v. Rosen. With confidence and trust in Yr. Honour’s love for justice, the promotion of industry, and the happiness of the state peasants, I appeal

36 Regarding the efforts of the Molokans Andreev and Voroshchev to establish a tree nursery, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 263, 300, 333, 360, 466.

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to your willingness to protect individuals who are being oppressed. The matter that I respectfully address troubles my conscience, tears at my heart, and I can no longer wait to submit it to you although it is disagreeable for me to do so. Left unattended it would disturb my conscience as a crime against your own humane objectives. As a result of Secretary Stoialov’s malicious intentions, two wellknown Molokans in Novovasilievka, Kardon Voroshchev and Mikhailo Golubov, are being persecuted in every conceivable way. Upon your departure from this district, Mikhailo Golubov was taken from his field work and put under arrest in the police station in Novoaleksandrovka. The assistant to District Chief Andreevskii and the police supervisor found no grounds for Golubov’s arrest since there was no community decision to back it up. There was only a report that Golubov had been denounced as a criminal because of his arguments with the supervisor of the government granary in Novovasilievka last winter. After a delay of three days, Andreevskii and the police supervisor in Novoaleksandrovka declared Golubov innocent and restored his freedom. Yesterday, the two Molokans in question visited me in Ohrloff and described their lamentable situation and the continuing suffering they had had to endure because of Secretary Stoialov’s thirst for revenge. He continues to devise new methods, having supposedly expressed his intention of not resting until he had plunged the two hated peasants, Voroshchev and Golubov, into disaster because of their creation of a garden. Stoialov therefore dreamt up a criminal offence and without explanation or a hearing and without offering any reason for their confinement, had them transported to the Police Commissar in Novoaleksandrovka. Again, the police official could not find sufficient evidence of a criminal nature to deliver the two men to the courts as criminal offenders and after two days released them to go home. To secure their existence, the two have directed a petition to the police official in Novoaleksandrovka. I enclose a copy of it for Yr. Honour’s information, with the humble request that you, with your own wise insight, take measures to shield the two above-mentioned Molokans from Secretary Stoialov’s malicious slanders and plots. Limits might also be put on Stoialov to prevent his damaging the government’s good intentions towards peasants and the ability of these two men to improve and work their domestic economies peacefully and without disturbance.

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467. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 20 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/90.37 From the Corresponding etc. [To] His Honour, Director etc., Baron v. Rosen, In response to communication No. 5057 of 11 June 1841 from the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, I humbly report that Kulpedin Umer Oglu, eighteen years old, a Tatar from the Feodosia District, has arrived to learn agricultural practice on my estate Iushanlee, as has Erishep Chalil Oglu, fifteen years old, from the Simferopol District. However, the first named ran away during the night of 10 August in everyday work clothes that he had received. He also stole about a chetvert of the best apples in my fruit orchard for his journey. When my workmen pursued him that night he threw away the apples he had packed into the jacket that he had also been given. To replace the deceased crown apprentice Varlami Gubka, I also received communication No. 623 from the Beloser District Office, Dneprov Uezd, that accompanied the young state peasant Ivan Tilachenko from the village of Rogatchik who arrived on 2 July 1841 to learn practical agriculture. On 10 April 1841 I also received a Nogai youth from Tiumen village, Iusuf Aliev, also to learn agriculture, but he ran away from my estate three times. At my request he was twice brought back by the local administration. He could not be found the third time. Finally, on 31 July 1841, he found his own way back to my estate. Since he was constantly fleeing, I did not report the boy’s arrival. As a result, his probationary period can only be counted from 31 July. Pavel Shkurchenko, a state peasant boy from Gross Tokmak, acting on his own impulse, expressed a desire to be accepted as one of the crown apprentices. He really does seem to be qualified. With the agreement of his local District Chairman, he has already been occupied on my estate since 1 April 1841, learning practical agriculture along with the other apprentices, even though I have not yet received the necessary papers for him from the Bolshoi Tokmak District Office. He was presented to His Excellency, the Minister for State Domains, when he visited my estate on 7 August.

37 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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On 16 April 1841, the state peasant son, Abibula Abduroman Oglu, from the village Barash in the Perekop district, was sent to me by his District Chairman to learn practical agriculture. This was reported to Yr. Honour on 17 May 1841, under communication No. 23. According to what he has told comrades and other apprentices, he had knocked about in the city of Perekop as an orphan, but eventually came to serve a gentleman as coachman. Put in chains by the courts because of criminal offences, he has already done things here that reveal his extremely corrupt character. I have not yet decided whether he is suitable to learn practical agriculture or that I will keep him. In light of my experience, I would humbly ask Yr. Honour to send an order to District Chiefs to ensure that in choosing appropriate boys for delivery to me, they should see to it that such orphaned and depraved boys are not chosen. The boys should in fact be well known and of good conduct, healthy, physically able to complete all agricultural jobs required of them, and in possession of the mental abilities to understand all branches of agriculture as established here. With these above-mentioned five state peasant boys, including the runaway Tatar Kolpedin, there are now thirteen boys and four girls on my estate to learn practical agriculture on the land and management in the household. 468. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 20 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/93. State Counsellor Fadeev, My true and heartfelt interest permitted me to feel genuine pleasure when I read in the press that His Majesty had appointed you, most worthy benefactor, to the post of Deputy Civilian Governor of Saratov. This position will open up a new sphere of endeavour for your work. Your philanthropic intentions have justifiably received broad recognition as have your activities that have been promoted by all high and noble authorities. I had the pleasure and good fortune to hear of this subject also from the Minister of State Domains when he visited my home on 7 August. He values Yr. services highly and is confident of Yr. benevolent management in future as well. May Providence grant you enduring good health to promote the state’s welfare and bless your life with happiness. The Minister was quite cheerful during his visit. He was satisfied with the arrangements in our villages, their orderliness, and especially

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with the progress we had made in our agricultural endeavours. Boundlessly laudatory about our efforts, we assume that he left us with a correct view of what we can do. To make ourselves worthy of such high and well-inclined confidence and to demonstrate the correctness of his approval, we need simply to strive with redoubled efforts and purpose to increase the virtue, order, and well-being of every individual in our communities and of our villages in general. The artisan’s village at Halbstadt has received Imperial approval.38 We are inexpressibly happy about this development. As an enduring memorial to your kindness, we plan to establish it next spring with the construction of houses. Because of your efforts on our behalf over many years, we recognize how great and unforgettable are the benefits that you have bestowed on all Molochnaia Mennonites and that will continue into the future. May God, who gives us all that is good, bless you many times over. We will consider ourselves to be unutterably fortunate were your benevolence to endure. To the degree that we can, we will strive to make ourselves worthy of your efforts. May Yr. Honour be reassured of the feelings of esteem that fill my heart. With genuine gratitude, I consider it to be my life’s good fortune to call myself, with sincere respect, Yr. Honour’s humblest servant, Johann Cornies. 469. Johann Cornies to Phillipp Mathias. 20 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/95. Most valued Mr. Mathias, I received your letter of 18 August, but will not accept any further excuses and demand that you appear here personally about this matter in two or three weeks, at the very latest. Please notify me by return mail about the specific day you will be in Ohrloff in order that I might be here. You cannot flatter me with the interest that is due. I need the capital sum. Otherwise I will find myself compelled to make things disagreeable for you. Wishing you well, Johann Cornies.

38 Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, n10, and docs. 31, 227, 296, 321, 368, 383, 401, 423, 424, 468, 499.

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470. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 22 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/95v. State Counsellor Steven, When I had the good fortune to have His Excellency, the Minister of State Domains, stay at my Iushanle estate for the night of 7 August, he kindly commissioned me to gather all of the rules that govern the administration of our villages, authorized as well as unauthorized. I am, moreover, to note what new arrangements might be established on the basis of useful rules that merit consideration and might promote and make more lucrative all branches of agriculture and the crafts in the Molochnaia Mennonite villages. In reply, I explained that you, Mr. State Counsellor, had already invited me to do something similar, and requested that the Minister permit me to send the rules to the Ministry through you because, as an uneducated person, I possess no knowledge of government and am unable to put such collected information into a clear and understandable order. The Minister approved my request and kindly ordered me to act accordingly. Now that I and my family have almost recovered and are, thank God, healthy again, although still a little weak, I am collecting all of the rules presently in force to maintain order and promote industry and well-being in the Molochnaia Mennonite villages. I intend to finish this task soon. Unless you find this proposal unacceptable or that it would interfere with your business affairs, I would journey to Simferopol in late September, bringing along all of the gathered rules. I could then provide you with accurate, verbal explanations about every matter not clearly described or not easily understood. With the most complete esteem, I have the honour to continue respectfully, as Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 471. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 25 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-661/7. You have forgotten me entirely, my dear, beloved Cornies. What is the reason for this? Do you really believe that the new position I have achieved has changed my sentiments and feelings of friendship for you? That, my dear man, would be a delusion. Our twenty-year mutual friendship and attachment will continue to remind me of you frequently, and of all your dear brethren. If God should grant it, I intend to ask for several months leave next year to recuperate from

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my difficult work. I will then definitely try to visit you on my journey to Odessa. Meantime, write to me how things are going in your area this year. Did the Minister visit you? He was undoubtedly quite contented with what he found. We are suffering from a great drought here and have again had a bad harvest. May God grant that it might be better next year. May you fare well. Give my greetings to all your family. Your constant, unchanging A. Fadeev. 472. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 29 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/99.39 From the corresponding member, etc. His Honour, etc. etc. ... Baron Rosen, Further to my report of August 20, I found it necessary to return the state peasant boy Abibula Abduroman Oglu from Barash village in Perekop District to the Perekop District Chief on August 26. He left with an open letter about his bad behaviour received from the assistant to the local District Chief Andreevskii. This was made necessary by the bad example his behaviour had set for his comrades. He seemed to think that his only purpose was to quarrel with his comrades or with the other workers on my estate and to start brawls. This he did again a few days ago. He was, in addition, able to obtain brandy and hold drunken revels at night. He is completely unsuited to learn agriculture. The runaway Tatar from the Feodosia District, Kulpedin Umer Oglu, mentioned in the same report to Yr. Honour, was again caught in Genitshi and delivered to me on 26 August by the local District Domain administration. With assistance from our local District Chairman, I have finally received the required communication from the Bolshoi Tokmak District Office for the state peasant from there, Pavel Akurtchenko, who has been learning practical agriculture here since 1 April 1841. At present there are therefore twelve boys and four girls on my estate to learn agricultural and household practices.

39 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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473. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 29 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-757/20. Dear Mr. Cornies, Constant shorter trips and other business matters have prevented me from answering your letter of 5 August earlier. I hope that you and your family are healthy. There are many cases of illness and death here as well. Scarlet fever raged in my home for many weeks and four of my children are still sick. The heat has let up a little but the drought continues. For several days we had storm clouds and hoped for rain. I talked to W. Shishiko who thinks that six puds of silk can be sold here anywhere for twelve rubles, as long as it is not too fine. I produced about ten funt this year, but it is still lying here unsold, which is also the case with other of my acquaintances. A sum of money had been designated for the purchase of silk, but this money has still not appeared nor have the conditions for such purchases been announced. Since Shishko believes that this will happen with time, it might be advisable to send the silk to him. In Moscow, one is seldom able to sell rough silk for more than eight or nine rubles. If you send me your silk and agree to let me send a sample on to Moscow, I will be able to find out what price it might fetch. I am leaving for Odessa and Bessarabia early tomorrow and hope to return within three or four weeks. Your respectful C. Steven. 474. Heinrich Heese to Johann Cornies. 30 August 1841. SAOR 89-1-749/69. Most valued friend, Our secondary school has made a good start and my main concern now is to ensure that the whole project continues to make good progress. I would very much like to present my ideas to you personally in this regard. When might you be home and free? I will be able to do this only in about five or six weeks’ time. I would also like to spend a day on your Tashchenak estate to get to know it. Kindly let me know about these matters through Foht. Your humble, H. Heese.

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475. Johann Cornies to District Office. 8 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/100. District Office in Halbstadt, In response to your gracious communication No. 10992, of 30 August, Abraham Enns, Neukirch, paid 65 rubles, eighty kopeks on his debt and promised to repay the remainder this month. The other debtor, Martin Kroeker, Margenau, however, has not yet paid his debt despite his signed promise given to the esteemed District Office to do so. I must humbly request that Kroeker be reminded of his promise to ensure that he repays the entire debt as quickly as possible. Please report to me about the results of your actions. 476. Johann Cornies to District Office. 8 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/100v. To the most esteemed Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, Last year (1840), Jacob Reimer, a foreign Mennonite currently living in Ladekopp, reached an agreement with Anton Potshobut, administrator of the Mordvinovka estate, to build a trestle windmill this year. Reimer was given an advance of 300 rubles. Construction of the mill was to have begun this past May, but the administrator fell ill and died. Construction of the mill had to be suspended since the lord of the estate, Privy Counsellor Stolypin in Petersburg, had only authorized construction of the mill to the late administrator, Potshobut. The acting administrator of the above-mentioned estate has asked me to settle this matter with Reimer and other involved Mennonites. I summoned Reimer and explained the situation to him so that matters between Reimer and the administrator might be decided without recourse to the courts and that a peaceful agreement between the two might be reached. This took place. Reimer was to submit an invoice and return to the Mordvinovka estate the items that he had supposedly purchased specifically for construction of the mill, namely [some illegible words, in addition to] one crowbar and timbers. In this way the whole matter was to have been settled. Hereupon, Reimer sent me a bill which did not correspond with the agreement or the arrangements

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made with the administrator in my presence, of which I enclose a copy. It demonstrates: 1. the greed and injustice into which Reimer has allowed himself to be misled and 2. that Reimer is not a man of his word, since the matter had been settled with the deputy administrator in my presence. One can only conclude from the inflated bill that Reimer is lying. The acting administrator of Mordvinovka estate now sees no alternative but to bring court action against the foreigner, Reimer, for his illegal actions and to force him to carry out the agreement as concluded. I have requested that he delay this action and am now turning to the esteemed District Office in this matter. I would ask that it summon the foreigner, Reimer, to the District Office and demonstrate to him his unjust behaviour that redounds to the shame of the Mennonite community. It might indicate to him that if he does not soon submit a bill in accordance with the agreement, as made in my presence, and deliver to the estate the items in question, he must expect that the administrator will take court action. In that event I would appear as witness to the agreement concluded in my house and insist that he be punished for his unscrupulous actions. Should Reimer, however, admit his guilt without court action, I would suggest that the District Office order that he bring me the bill by 15 September, and all items listed in the agreement reached in my house. For this he would receive a receipt. I request that the esteemed District Office inform me of the results of its actions. 477. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 10 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-762/16. From the Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains Baron Rosen to the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, This is in regard to the construction of models of all cultivation implements used by the Mennonites. During his travels through the Melitopol District, the Minister of State Domains concluded that the various implements used for cultivation in Mennonite villages are particularly useful and suitable for their purpose. In consequence, he asked me to arrange for the construction

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of models of Mennonite field cultivation implements at his expense, and also of the threshing machine he is having made. These models were to be presented to the local office as a gift to serve as examples for the introduction of improvements in agriculture. In complying with this order from the Minister, I therefore ask you to have such models constructed and to kindly inform me about the costs, listing the price of each model specifically. 478. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 10 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-762/17.40 From the Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains Baron Rosen, To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, Regarding the construction of 300 potato ploughs: The Mennonite introduction of potato cultivation has won the approval of the Minister. He has therefore decided to have potato cultivation introduced into the guberniias of New Russia and Little Russia. To this end, I have been commissioned by His Excellency, Count Kiselev, to arrange for the construction of about 300 [Mennonite] potato ploughs. I mention this number only provisionally, pending receipt of the necessary information from the local bureau of State Domains in all guberniias that I am presently in touch with. They are to let me know how many villages there are in each guberniia, since the Minister has assigned a plough for each village. Since this commission provides a not inconsiderable profit, I hope that the price for the ploughs will be lower than the price usually paid. I would ask you to kindly inform me about this matter and also about the approximate time it would take to construct this number of ploughs. With respect to Tavrida guberniia and not related to this, I request that you inform me also about the costs of individual markers and potato diggers, in case these implements are needed in the guberniia. I seem to recall you remarking that these implements might not be absolutely

40 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n. 136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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necessary. I leave the matter entirely in your hands but would simply request information about prices for those two implements, each noted individually. F.F. Rosen. 479. Johann Cornies to Huebner. 13 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/107v. Mr. Huebner, To begin, I must assure you of my continued love and esteem. The manner in which you have accepted your fate has raised my esteem for you even higher. The Christian raises himself above every misfortune, as does a wise man. The Higher Being who governs everyone’s fate will finally reward the virtues of fortitude and patience, even if earthly supports disappear and people cannot or do not want to help. We must wait with wise resignation for the proper time and hour when help will be given to us. We are worthy of esteem if our soul is composed, calm, and undisturbed in regard to every temporal situation. If you yield to God’s governance and guidance, moving ahead with great industry, you will be able to fill the position designated for you by gracious Providence. I was greatly pleased to read in your most esteemed letter that the Minister expressed his satisfaction with the way business is conducted in the Tavrida Domains Bureau. Thanks be to God. With assurance we can now hope that many things will be different and better. I have not yet seen the new Uezd Supervisor but hope to speak to him soon. I had intended to travel to Simferopol to see Mr. Steven on 20 September. When the Minister visited here, he commissioned me to discuss several matters concerning the administration of villages with Mr. Steven. However, Mr. Steven wrote to say that he was travelling to Odessa on 30 August, and would be away for three to four weeks. In all likelihood I would therefore not be able to come to Simferopol before 10 October since the crown potatoes must be looked after first. I am also asking the Baron for directions concerning the cultivation of potatoes with this mail and will await these first. Please accept my warmest thanks for your friendly thoughts that you communicated to me. May you fare well. The happier you become, the more heartily your honest and honoured friend will be pleased. Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies.

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480. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 13 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/104v.41 No. 39, Baron v. Rosen, On September 3, potato digging began on the fields planted on the thirty-nine desiatinas designated as examples for the state peasants in our local district. The harvest will vary a great deal. On several desiatinas the potatoes could not set and grow sufficiently because of a lack of moisture. As drought hindered their growth, not much more than a fourfold return can be expected from these desiatinas. In contrast, on desiatinas where rain fell at the appropriate time and in such quantities as to moisten the soil to a great depth, a tenfold return can be expected. The potato harvest will be completed within two, at most three weeks. I will then have the honour to make a report about results that I owe Yr. Honour. When I travel around the district, I encourage peasants to plant potatoes on their fields and explain to them the many different advantages arising from the use of potatoes in households. I also draw to their attention the rule that, in future, all families planting at least one-eighth chetvert of potatoes per soul on their fields and working them according to the methods they have been taught, will be released from labour obligations on the state potato fields. In addition, those who distinguish themselves in potato cultivation will receive a monetary reward. I hear that the peasants have responded to my encouragement, especially now that they realize that the systematic cultivation of potatoes does not demand as much effort and work as they had originally imagined. They are surprised to see that, despite the great drought, many potatoes are being produced on state fields while they themselves harvested only a few small potatoes, or none, in places where they followed their own methods. This first example of desiatina plots on state lands was intended to introduce potato cultivation among the state peasants and it seems to have succeeded. My preparations have awakened a desire in many people to plant potatoes for their own advantage. They are expecting confirmation from the Domains Bureau that all families who plant at least one-eighth chetvert of potatoes for every soul on their own fields

41 Ibid.

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and care for them systematically will be released from labour obligations on the crown potato fields. This external motivation should enable us to achieve our objective quickly and for this reason I humbly ask Yr. Honour to have an announcement in this regard circulated to peasants in our local districts as soon as possible. This will enable the peasants to prepare their fields for potato planting this autumn and to acquire the hand tools needed to work the potato fields. Please also notify me of the extent to which you intend to have the crown potato fields planted next year. Preparing the soil to increase returns is the most important aspect of potato cultivation and to do so it is necessary to do this groundwork the previous autumn. Around 1000 chetvert or more of potatoes will presumably be harvested from the thirty-nine desiatinas. I have directed the workers to divide the potatoes into three different sizes and store each category separately immediately upon digging. The purpose is to perhaps sell several hundred chetvert of the largest potatoes at a low price. If the number of [crown] desiatinas is doubled to seventy-eight in Melitopol Uezd and twelve desiatinas in Dneprov, we will need 540 chetvert of potatoes at six chetvert per desiatina. I estimate that rot in storage pits could cause the loss of one hundred chetvert. Sixty chetvert of unripe potatoes as small as hazelnuts must be used immediately as cattle fodder, and 300 chetvert will still remain of the 1000 chetvert harvested. However, in my judgment the potato harvest could average six- to seven-fold and, according to this estimate, 1300 to 1500 chetvert of potatoes could be harvested from the thirty-nine desiatinas. I humbly await your directions in this matter. 481. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 17 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/109v.42 Baron v. Rosen, Yesterday, 16 September, the Mennonite under whose supervision state potato cultivation is being carried out in Orekhov reported to me that the digging of potatoes had been completed in Orekhov and Aul. 135 chetvert of potatoes were obtained at the first location, 128 at the second. They are all large and of very good quality. My hope is

42 Ibid.

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that this example will soon be emulated. Many a person should now be convinced that even steppelands are suitable for potato cultivation, and could possibly yield a twenty-one- to twenty-two-fold increase with correct and systematic treatment. There is absolutely no variety of grain, even in the most fruitful years, that produces so much nourishment from one desiatina of land as do potatoes. In submitting this report to Yr. Honour, I express the hope that this example will spread potato cultivation among the state peasants quickly, and that this report will be pleasing to Yr. Honour. Johann Cornies. 482. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 18 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-762/19. From the Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, State Counsellor Baron Rosen, About the introduction of Mennonite agricultural management among state peasants in newly constructed villages. To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, The Minister of State Domains wishes to have Mennonite agricultural management introduced among state peasants in newly constructed villages, insofar as this might be compatible with the general basis of the administration of State Domains. I have received an official document on this subject, according to which I have been commissioned to make comparisons to determine the most suitable methods for the division of land of individual establishments on the basis of Mennonite practices and what basic principle might be followed in placing new settlers under a so-called supervisory committee that would keep an attentive eye on the morality, order, and diligence of agriculturalists, artisans and labourers. Thought has also been given to changing the taxation system from one based on the number of souls [soul tax] to a land tax. The regulation of the personal performance of community obligations is also to be considered following the Mennonite example. Finally, inheritance procedures for households are similarly to be determined on the basis of methods employed by Mennonites to regulate what happens to a person’s estate after one’s temporal existence ends. Mennonite practices in this regard have demonstrated their validity and could, to the degree possible, be introduced among state peasants.

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In communicating the Minister’s wishes to you, I endeavour to fulfil his commission adequately and to the letter. To do so I turn to you with the most friendly request for your assistance: 1. Please prepare a clear description of the existing land division among Mennonite fullholdings. 2. How are taxes determined on the basis of land and with consideration for the number of souls in each household? 3. How is the personal performance of community obligations allotted and overseen? 4. Please provide me with the details of inheritance procedures for fullholdings. My report on these matters must be sent to the Minister by 1 November 1841. I therefore ask you most kindly to send me your information about the points mentioned by 10 October at the latest. F.F. Rosen. 483. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 20 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-762/21. From the Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, State Counsellor Baron Rosen, Regarding a watermill to be constructed by Heinrich Cornies at the village of Kondshegale on the Abitochnna River. To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, I submitted your detailed presentation of 18 November 1840 to the Minister of State Domains. It described your brother Heinrich’s construction of a water-mill and said that the setting aside of land around it for an agricultural model settlement would encourage the neighbouring Nogais. I also explained the useful results such an undertaking could have. I made sure to point out that, given the praiseworthy Mennonite manner of proceeding with all of their undertakings, one could with assurance count on a positive conclusion to this initiative. Since the Minister is already fully convinced of the usefulness of this project for the region, he willingly received my submission, finding your brother Heinrich’s proposal to be useful for the region. Land can therefore be provided for a longer period of time.

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At the same time, the Minister mentioned that it would be desirable to have the contracting party determine the approximate number of desiatinas of land needed for tree plantations during the time of the land contract. The contracting party should also be invited to show preference for mulberry trees and plants that can be used as trade commodities, in particular dyes, tobacco plants, and similar items. He hopes that your brother Heinrich will agree to his recommendations. By now your brother will have informed himself in detail about the site where he wishes to build the mill. This was a matter about which he had no definite information last winter. He will also have inspected the land. Please, as soon as you can, send me concrete information about everything mentioned above. B. d. Rosen. 484. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 20 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/110v. Having experienced many demonstrations of your benevolent intentions in the past, I come to you today with another request, confident that Yr. Honour will grant it. It involves suggestions for a small change in the travel route through our villages planned for Her Imperial Highness, the Grand Duchess Helena Pavlovna. I can scarcely describe the joy Molochnaia Mennonites felt when told that Their Imperial Highnesses, the Grand Duchesses Helena Pavlovna and Maria Mikhailovna, would travel through the Molochnaia Mennonite villages and bless them with their visit. They will do what they can to make the trip for these esteemed visitors as pleasant as possible by directing them through the best villages where the road is better maintained, more attractive, and five verstas shorter. I take the liberty of humbly submitting to Yr. Honour’s gracious examination the proposed travel route through the villages from Novoaleksandrovka to Tokmak. Please, if you agree, act as our gracious advocate in seeking its approval. In the happy hope of a benevolent and favourable hearing for my humble request, I remain Yr. Excellency’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. From Novoaleksandrovka to Altonau from there to Akkerman Iushanle Blumenort

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Tiege Ohrloff Lichtenau Lindenau Fischau Schoenau Tiegenhagen Muntau Halbstadt Petershagen Ladekopp Tokmak

2 “” 1 “” 5 “” 4 “” 2 “” 4 “” 3 “” 3 “” 1 “” 3 “” 3 “” 3 “”

Therefore, seventy-four verstas to Halbstadt [eighty-three in total]. 485. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 22 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/111v.43 Mr. Huebner wrote that a Tatar boy from Feodosia District had written to Yr. Honour, asking that he be sent to me to learn practical agriculture because of his great interest in the subject. He remained firm in his resolve even after you described the difficulties he might encounter. These would include strict supervision and corporal punishment if he failed to fulfil my orders, even in the slightest. He hopes to overcome all obstacles and bear them with patience. I am also being asked whether I would accept the boy even if we had already reached the number of crown apprentices agreed upon. I thank Yr. Honour for kindly describing to this boy the most difficult and unpleasant aspects of learning agriculture with me. I am also pleased that he remained firm in his decision. If he possesses the requisite physical strength and intelligence, I must willingly accept him with the greatest pleasure, even if the agreed-upon number of boys had been reached, which is not yet the case, and to teach him agriculture with the greatest pleasure. I therefore humbly request that you have this boy sent to me as soon as possible.

43 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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486. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 26 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/114. I have the honour to respond to Yr. Honour’s communication No. 317 of 19 July 1841 about the improvement of horses among state peasants in the Melitopol and Dneprov uezds. If the purpose is not simply to acquire a large number of horses but also, over time, to obtain better horses that can be of use to the individual peasant, then it is necessary to purchase good stallions at the government’s costs. They should be quartered at collection points and sent to the villages at appropriate times such as March, April, May, and June, to breed the peasants’ mares at designated breeding stations. The number of stallions sent to one village or area is dependent upon the number of mares to be serviced. This matter must be investigated beforehand by officials employed in the regulation and direction of the rural stud farm. A definite covering charge of two to three silver rubles should be paid for every mare serviced by these stallions. The assured sale of good horses at good prices is the best means to encourage peasants to breed horses and no other method compares. If breeding is to be conducted patiently and successfully, then stallions must be selected that have traits very similar to those of the mares, both organically and physically. 1. With special attention to the local climate of this area and to the trades carried on by the peasants in the Melitopol district, it would be most appropriate to develop a strong cross-breed of horses that is heavier rather than lighter, and two arshins, one to two vershok high. 2. I would prefer to use stallions from Tambov guberniia, where there are breeds of enduring strength, solid builds, and neither too heavy nor clumsy. They should be able to adapt to every agricultural use. The physical characteristics of a good stud-horse are as follows: the head of a breeding stallion should not be too large in relation to the body, preferably smaller but not too small either. From the knob at the back of the occipital bone forward across the forehead to the point of the nasal bone, the head must have quite a straight line, and the forehead must be wide, with the cheekbones covered with strongly arched temporal muscles. The structure of the ears gives the head its individual appearance and should therefore be well-proportioned and not too short or too long. The eyes must be large, lively, and healthy, the cavity above the eyes shallow, and the nostrils large, open, and sharply rounded. The neck must not be too fat and its ridge not arched too sharply, bent more

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at the bottom and running more gradually towards its merging with the head. The stallion’s body should have strong withers, higher than the backbone, but they must not stand up too sharply, nor be very wide, round, or fat. The withers should disappear gradually, sinking along the back. The back should run in a fairly straight line with the backbone, though it can rise a little. The stallion’s croup must be rounded sideways, running slightly down in an almost straight line. The tail should emerge out of the croup almost horizontally. His chest should be wide and full and his legs muscular and not too thin. He should be four or five years old with a dark colour, such as black, brown, or chestnut without markings. He should be at least two arshins, two vershok high and no higher than two arshins, three vershok. I would recommend, as an experiment, that one should begin by assigning only two stallions with the qualities described above for service in Melitopol district. They should be stationed in the villages of Mikhailovka, Timashovka, and in the Molokan villages. There are many horse lovers in these villages and several of their peasants probably own ten good workhorses. It would probably not be worthwhile for the time being to assign stallions to service mares in the other villages of the Melitopol district, since they really own too few horses, most of them poor, and have no idea of how useful horses can be to a household or what profits a mare can provide. This knowledge must first be made obvious to villagers. They must be taught, using the visible evidence provided by other peasants to value examples of the villages mentioned that are exceptionally well suited. I believe that there are many more villages where peasants occupy themselves with horsebreeding and use horses in their agriculture in the Dneprov area than in Melitopol Uezd. Stallions from Tambov guberniia of the described varieties are likewise well suited to improve peasant horses. 487. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 26 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/117.44 Yr. Honour’s gracious commission No. 28820 of 18 May, asks me to determine the number of cattle that all state peasants should be

44 Regarding Rosen’s request for pasture land allotments, see TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 427. Note that Rosen’s original request was made on 30 March 1841, not 18 May as this letter states.

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permitted to keep on village pastures. How much should they pay the community for any livestock in excess of this number? I am honoured to respond by explaining my views on these matters, to the best of my ability. I assume that state peasants have the use of fifteen desiatinas of usable land for every revision soul, of which one-third is used to cultivate grain and two-thirds to pasture livestock or as hay meadows. According to the cultivation and pasture practices followed by the Molochnaia Mennonites, the average calculation of pasturage is based on a norm of five and a half head of cattle per revision soul, with one head of large livestock requiring two desiatinas of land. The number of head of livestock allowed per revision soul is determined in the following way: one horse or one cow more than two years old counts as one head, a year-old horse or cow counts as a half head, six sheep or pigs count as one head. Anyone keeping more livestock than one head per two desiatinas of land is required to pay the community 3.50 kopeks or rent pasture space from someone not pasturing the number of head permitted him. The rent for ploughland belonging to a fellow villager is four rubles per desiatina of land. These numbers are not, however, inflexibly the same in every village. They are also affected by the quality of the steppe and the richness of the grass in each locality. The norms are equally affected by varieties of land surfaces: rolling steppeland, flat land, land with crooked areas, land bisected by water, sandy layers, marshes, and major roads. Is the land area square, triangular, or wedge-shaped? How distant from a village are the fields, hay meadows, and pastures? Is the village in the middle, at the end, or alongside its own land? Are the meadows irrigated and what are the locations of the livestock watering holes? The more favourable the location of the pastures and the more convenient their use, the greater the number of cattle that may be pastured on them. State peasant villages are commonly situated at the end of their fields. This makes them harder to use because of their great distance from the village. The random and unsystematic arrangement of ploughlands can limit pastures to such an extent that often there is insufficient pasturage in summer, causing much suffering for the livestock. Weighing all of the above, I believe it would be practical for state peasants to keep four large head of cattle per revision soul on three and three quarter desiatinas of land, and no more. In the meantime four desiatinas of ploughland can be assigned for each revision soul. If extra livestock is kept, it would be reasonable to pay the community pasture

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fees of 150 kopeks per large head, and two rubles for every extra desiatina of ploughland. 488. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 28 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/119.45 In response to communication No. 543 of 16 September 1841, I am pleased to notify Yr. Honour about the price for markers and potato lifters. One marker, as it is usually used here without fitted smoothing board, costs three rubles and one potato lifter costs one ruble. I will soon report to Yr. Honour regarding the production of 300 mounders or potato ploughs, about the lowest price at which they can be built and the time needed for their production. 489. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 29 September 1841. SAOR 89-1-757/21. Very esteemed Mr. Cornies, I was pleased to read in your letter of 22 August that you plan to visit me. I had just returned in time for your announced arrival. It so happens that I have been away in Odessa and Bessarabia for a month, and just returned the day before yesterday. I face a mound of papers and cannot hope to see others, but I would very much like to speak to you in person. With complete esteem, respectfully C. Steven. 490. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 5 October 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/125. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, Thank you for your valued communication of 12 September 1841 about the sale of my Spanish wool that had been stored with you since last year. The price is naturally lower than what we are accustomed to, but such are the ups and downs of the market. It is also what makes life

45 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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so very beautiful: “Not only wine makes us so jolly. Sometimes it may be only water.” Without dissimulation, I know that you have tried to get the best price possible for my wool. I am therefore completely satisfied. At the wool market in Romen, Mennonites sold their washed wool for twenty to twenty-two rubles fifty kopeks per pud. The prospects for wintering sheep in this region are good, but the price of sheep is astonishingly low. Sheep are going for one ruble seventy-five kopeks to three rubles apiece, even though there is enough fodder. Late summer was very dry, with temperatures up to thirty-one degrees. The relentless humidity persisted at almost the same level in the day and at night. Still, the harvest turned out moderately well. Tree fruits did not keep well because they ripened too quickly and vegetables turned out badly. In other years garden flowers would be in their glory at this time of year, but now, when the Grand Duchess Helena Pavlovna travelled through our villages, we could not find even enough flowers to scatter in her honour at the entrance to my estate at Iushanle. She took her midday meal with us and spent the night in Halbstadt. Otherwise, everything went quite well, thank God. The state of health among our people is still regretably very unsatisfactory. Hot and cold fevers reign in almost every house. My wife, daughter, and daughter-in-law are suffering, but the number of deaths is nothing out of the ordinary. I have spent most of the summer travelling around and my own establishments, as a result, have suffered somewhat. Nor have I been able to conduct my correspondence as I had wished. This week I have to go to Simferopol. Commend me to your whole esteemed family and may you fare well, in good health and with a joyful spirit. Unchanged and with most sincere esteem and love, I remain, your most humble friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 491. Johann Cornies to Johann Wiebe (Neutiech, Prussia). 20 October 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/128. Greatly treasured friend, I got your valued communication on 21 September and thank you kindly for working out an emigration permit for the carpenter, Jacob Adrian, and covering the costs. It will be a little expensive to mail the permit here, but this will be necessary. Please send it to my address. I will thankfully repay your costs.

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I was pleased to read that you have become a man of the land not far from the place of my birth. I wish you much luck. Mind you, it would have been better if you had moved to Russia, because Prussia already has an abundance of good, educated agriculturalists. These we lack. We are, to be sure, concerned about this situation and making every effort to educate good agriculturalists, but half a century will pass before we see the results. I have been here in the Crimea for the last eight days. What we have long suspected has now come to pass, the Guardianship Committee will cease to exist and we will be transferred to the superintendence of the Tavrida Financial Bureau. I have been summoned to soften the blow and to have the changes introduced in ways that will leave undisturbed the economic progress in Molochnaia Mennonite industries and otherwise. The weather, until a few days ago, has been unusually warm. The thermometer stood at twenty-two degrees Reamur in the shade, although it is somewhat cooler now. In the gardens flowers are blooming as if it were spring. Mounds of grapes sell at six kopeks per funt. Wine costs one ruble, forty kopeks to seventy kopeks per ten-quart pail. All varieties of tree fruits are low in price and available in astonishingly great quantities, but bread is expensive. God willing, I intend to travel home via Arabat along the foot of the mountains the day after tomorrow. I exchanged a few words with Siemens before I left. He doesn’t seem to want to take your sheep. Sheep are now extremely cheap in our area and buyers have not yet appeared for this reason. Should Siemens decide to take your sheep, I will follow your instructions and pay him one thousand thalers. When I get home, I will discuss the matter with Siemens in detail and, if necessary, report to you in detail, but I cannot promise that this will happen before the New Year. With the impending new [administrative] arrangements in the colonial system, I will be busy with this matter to an extraordinary degree. Now, dearly beloved friend, fare well and give my greetings to your dear family. I remain your honest, well-meaning friend, Johann Cornies. 492. P. Kiselev to Johann Cornies. 22 October 1841. SAOR 89-1-762/37. Esteemed Mr. Cornies, During my tour through the Mennonite villages I viewed your settlements with sincere pleasure and especially the progress you have made in your own establishments. I brought this to His Majesty’s attention and his Imperial Majesty deigned to remark that the name Cornies was familiar to him as a worthy and useful man.

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It gives me pleasure to inform you of this gracious remark, all the more so because the Mennonites have progressed to a higher level than others and are respected for their exemplary establishments. The enlightenment of the Nogais also redounds to their praise and I had the honour of informing His Imperial Majesty about this matter as well. All of this has much increased a desire to increase the number of Mennonites in Russia. I therefore expect to receive a petition from you for the settlement of a number of them as you mentioned to me at Iushanle. I remain, your benevolent Count P. Kisilev. 493. Johann Cornies to Fletnitzer. 27 October 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/126V. Most highly esteemed Pastor Fletnitzer in Odessa, Convinced of your Christian love of mankind and the desire to help those who are trying to learn something useful, I do not hesitate to make a heartfelt request on behalf of a young Mennonite, Martin Riediger from here, who is presently in Odessa. Two years ago our community sent him to the Guardianship Committee to learn the Russian language and office routines. This young man would now like to become a teacher and receive education appropriate to that end. He tells me that he has a greater interest in teaching than in working in an office. Lacking the financial means, however, he has asked me for financial assistance. Since he has also applied for admission to the Evangelical School, I feel obligated, for the strongest of reasons, to support him by setting aside twenty-five rubles monthly for his instruction. To whom should I send this money? I would ask you for your guardianship in this matter, knowing how close the promotion of human happiness is to your heart. I thank you in advance for your help. With exceptional esteem and the most honest love, I remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 494. Johann Cornies to Wilhelm Lange. 7 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/133v.46 Dear Friend Wilhelm Lange, Thank you for your letter and the two receipts regarding the potato planting project. Let me also say that because of the absence from their

46 Ibid.

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jobs of the secretaries of the Saltitskii and Nikolaievskii districts I have not yet received any receipts from them. Please submit these receipts as soon as possible since the government does not consider the business completed until this has been done. Nor can I do this myself since it is contrary to regulations and could result in mistakes and unpleasantness. Matters of this kind must be conducted on the basis of prescribed rules, never forgetting that it is crown business. Therefore, please go to the villages in question and have the required receipts prepared for you. You should then go to Berestova to have its seal stamped. The Director of the the Domains Bureau, Baron v. Rosen, will arrive shortly, perhaps even this week. By then this business must be done. I am therefore returning the receipt from Berestova for this purpose with the request that you return it to me as the other two in legally valid form and have the receipts for the purchase of potatoes prepared according to the following format, signed not only by the mayor but also by his assistants. Your friend, Johann Cornies. 495. Johann Cornies to David Epp, Khortitsa. 7 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/134v. To the correspondent of the Molochnaia Section of the Bible Society, Honourable David Epp in Khortitsa, I write in reply to your valued communication of 13 October to let you know that I have received one hundred and two rubles in payment for the books of Holy Scripture. You will receive the requested copies at the first opportunity. Alternately, if an opportunity to ship the books should come to your attention before that time, please inform me accordingly. 496. Johann Cornies to District Office. 11 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/135. Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, Martin Kroeker, Margenau, came to see me today and asked for an extension of the terms of repayment for his debt. He promised to pay the debt of three hundred and fifty rubles promptly by 1 January 1842. I would be prepared to extend the terms of repayment as he requests on the condition that he obligate himself in writing at the District Office to appear promptly on this date. Please inform me that this has been done and I will govern myself accordingly.

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497. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 14 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-757/22. Dear Mr. Cornies, During your stay here, I requested that you might give me a small sample of silk reeled in the Mennonite villages. I now repeat this request, noting that the sample does not need to be more than what can be sent in a package. At the same time, I would like to find out whether your reelers allow the silk to run out of the kettle through iron ears, without ears, or whether they are using glass ones. Further, how many reeling machines are in operation and in which villages? You told me that a portion of the silk was sent to Moscow to be sold there. I would like to know at what price and how much you were required to pay for transportation and commission. I would request the same information for last year’s silk. My three-year-old silk is still lying here unsold. [sentence partially illegible, apparently about a variety of tree]. Does it survive the winter? If you have any 12- to 15-year-old trunks, I would be very interested in reading [illegible] and for what the wood can be used. [Illegible.] I only have one tree 17–18 years old in my garden, and therefore cannot sacrifice it. They say that the wood of the trunk is supposed to be very hard but that its core is quite friable like that of a lilac bush. Write and tell me who is your genuine silk grower and how much he earned last year. With esteem, Your respectful C. Steven 498. D. Neumann to Johann Cornies. 16 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-764/121. Esteemed Sir, I report that after evil people caused damage on our street, tearing out some of the poplars, Sparwasser, one of our employees, kept watch last night thinking he might discover whether some of our workers were responsible for this vandalism. At ten o’clock, three people from Akimovka came driving along, got out of their vehicle at the end of the street and tore out a tree. We seized this tree and took it to their priest who gave us a receipt for it. Your servant D. Neumann. Kisliar, 16 November 1841. The receipt is enclosed as well as two small packages of newspapers.

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499. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 17 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/143v.47 Your Honour, State Counsellor, I received your two estimable letters, dated 24 May and 25 September, and am obliged to you for the information they contained. Please forgive me for not being able to send you the expected reply, but almost everyone in this region has suffered from the widespread illness. It was present throughout the summer and continues on until now. It has also seriously afflicted me and our entire family and my wife is still laid low and seriously ill. I think that this epidemic should have exhausted itself by now. The incidence of human deaths has not, however, been unusual. A number of positive developments have followed in the wake of the Minister’s [Kiselev’s] visit. Much has already been improved and much more is headed in that direction. Mennonites are especially happy and honoured that the Minister blessed their villages with a visit and found that much in their arrangements was praiseworthy. Mennonites are in a position to continue their work with redoubled efforts so that their economic arrangements might achieve the highest degree of perfection and, in so doing, confirm the Minister’s approval. There was an abundant harvest of hay and grain this year. Almost 20,000 chetvert of wheat from our Mennonite villages will be sold in Berdiansk at prices of from fourteen to seventeen rubles per chetvert. There is also a surplus of soft grains. In contrast, only enough rye was harvested to cover household needs. Spanish wool fetched a very low price, washed wool selling at fifteen rubles per pud locally, twenty-two and a half in Romen. There is little demand for horses and horned cattle, and no one is looking for sheep. The shortage of money is generally pressing, but the trades and construction of houses and agricultural buildings in our villages continue as in the past. Improved field cultivation continues to spread and could soon become the primary basis of local agriculture on the Molochnaia, and an enduring foundation of our economy. Plantations of forest and fruit trees continue to expand from year to year. This year, somewhat more than six puds of reeled silk were

47 Regarding Cornies’ role in collecting environmental data, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 265, 279, 324, 423, 499, 513, 555, 556, 574, 576.

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produced. One can conclude that the growth of interest in sericulture and its advantages might well be turned into a major household family activity among Mennonites. As for tree fruits, only apple and Hungarian plum trees produced well. A few others produced a little and many varieties nothing at all. Vegetables were generally bad this year. Even potatoes planted on the fields could not attain their full growth because of the great drought. Animated activity towards improvement is general among the Nogais. The excessive preoccupation with livestock breeding is somewhat on the wane and grain cultivation is increasing. All this renders them more peaceable, industrious, and domestic. This is to their advantage. Similarly, they have become more inclined towards the establishment of regular villages, the construction of good houses, and the development of domestic establishments. They are developing an ever greater taste for tree planting while potato cultivation will soon have been established generally in all villages. Among Russian peasants, on the other hand, all of these improvements are slower and more difficult to introduce, which can perhaps be blamed on the motivations and behaviour of their lower officials and the insinuations they make. I and my brethren in faith cannot adequately thank you for your kind intercession in support of the confirmation that has now been granted for the establishment of a manufacturing village beside Halbstadt.48 I will never forget your special interest and active cooperation in promoting the progress of our local tradesmen. As an enduring memorial to your kindness, the village is now planning [a model] of the village to scale. In spring we will proceed with the construction of houses. Many thanks also for kindly sending me a classified catalogue of the names of plants on our local steppe. It gave me much pleasure. I have kept an exact copy of everything that I sent you and I can therefore successfully find my way around the plant names. I have been notified by my friend Mr. Blueher in Moscow that he has received the small chest of glasses you kindly sent him (as noted in your letter of 25 September). He has sent it on to Kharkov, for forwarding to me. He does not, however, mention whether he has received the barometer from Mr. Schroeder, perhaps because he had not yet been informed of this matter himself. I do not have the courage to fill a barometer

48 Regarding the establishment of Neuhalbstadt, see TSUS, vol. 2, n25, and docs. 45, 239, 308, 333, 380, 395, 413, 435, 436, 480, 511.

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myself, but should Mr. Steven agree to do so, I would know that it had been done properly. Although I owe you many thanks for your many kindnesses, I would be very pleased if you would also order a well thermometer for me. Enclosed are five rubles sixty-five kopeks still owed you according to the invoice received, as well as forty-five rubles to cover the costs of the well thermometer mentioned above. I am very unhappy that I have so long delayed the further excavation of burial mounds [in our area]. I will start work on this project next spring. The work in my agricultural economy has been reduced somewhat by the marriage of my son, who will take over the running of my Tashchenak estate. Because of its great distance from Ohrloff, its management has always robbed me of a great deal of the time needed for my other business. Asking for the continuation of your friendship and your kind inclination towards me, please allow me to assure you that I will not cease to be Yr. Honour’s thankfully humble, Johann Cornies. 500. Johann Cornies to District Office. 18 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/138v. District Office at Halbstadt, As is confirmed by his signature, Peter Regier from Fuerstenau village owes me 5475 rubles plus interest. When Regier left for Prussia this year he did not discuss his debt with me. As is known, he was seized at the border on his return journey because of smuggling. According to a statement that he has made, he does not presently have enough cash to repay his debt. For this reason, I humbly request that the honourable District Office demand that Regier pay me the amount owed no later than by 1 January 1842. If Regier has indeed sold his windmill for 5,000 rubles, more or less, as I have been informed, I would request that this money be paid to me to cancel his debt and that I be kindly informed of the results. 501. Johann Cornies to Peter Siemens. 18 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/139v. Mr. Peter Siemens, dear Friend, In a completely dependable report I have been informed that a large section of land on the Khirgiz steppes, consisting of one and a

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half million desiatinas, has been transferred to the Ministry of State Domains for settlement. It is beyond the Volga, in Saratov guberniia, not far from the German colonies settled there since 1765. It has occurred to me in this connection that it might be possible to persuade the government to set aside a total of 50,000 desiatinas or more of this huge piece of land for Mennonite settlement. Although the immigration of Mennonites has been halted and I am not allowed to use my influence in this matter, I did speak with the General Inspector for Agriculture in Southern Russia, State Counsellor and Knight v. Steven. He believes that it might be possible to convince the government that it would be in its interest to settle several hundred Mennonite families in that guberniia. He promised that if several deputies arrived to explore this possibility, he would suggest to the government that foreign settlers, explicitly including Prussian Mennonites, be settled as a way of quickly raising the civilization and cultivation of the steppe. In this way several hundred families could be settled in one district, as on the Molochnaia. I am largely unfamiliar with this land and its suitability for settlement and field cultivation, but what I do know is that colonists who live there are doing very well. This is especially true of those living on the meadow side of the Volga where the one and a half million desiatinas under discussion are located. The area is suited for the cultivation of grain and vegetables that can be easily sold via ships on the Volga. Trade in these products in Astrakhan is booming. When I visited there in 1837, wood for house construction was cheap, one timber log three faden in length costing four to five rubles. Moreover, even if all this land were not located along the Volga, it should still be good for settlement even if it lay a hundred verstas from there. Within this large area there would undoubtedly be long stretches of land suitable for field cultivation and tree planting. One needs only permission to seek them out. Such a place for our brethren in faith to settle under the umbrella of a humane government, and with the same privileges as ours, is so important to me that I cannot find peace until I have expressed my views on the matter. You, my dear friend, are now here and can contribute much to this subject. In light of this proposal, you might urgently call upon your relatives and acquaintances in Prussia to join together in an association of individuals well inclined towards their brethren in faith who find themselves in straitened circumstances and would like to help

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them. Two deputies should be chosen from within this group to inspect the land in question. Should the government respond favourably, the deputies could explore terms of settlement. On their return to Prussia, they should inform their brethren accordingly. Money would naturally have to be spent to send the deputies to Russia that the association itself would need to cover. The costs, in any case, should be no more than 700 to 800 Thaler. Were this project to prosper much good would have been done and were it to fail we would at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we had done what we could and, in the process, learned much about matters unknown to us before. The authorization for these deputies would have to be prepared and signed by the association. I would advise you to make representation in this regard among your brethren in Prussia as soon as possible. You will know best whom to address. The two deputies could then visit the Molochnaia next spring. Representations in regard to this matter will continue to be accepted by the Ministry of State Domains in 1842, a fact that might well work to the advantage of the Prussian Mennonites. With constant respect, I remain your friend and servant, 502. Johann Cornies to Peter Siemens. 21 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/151. Mr. Peter Siemens, dear friend, Further to my earlier communication to you, I think that a few additional remarks from me are in order. Our Prussian brethren in faith should not assume that the proposal I brought to your attention is simply a projection of my own ideas, has no larger foundation, and has not been given extensive consideration. Let me assure you that I have for years worked to the limits of my influence to find a place somewhere in the empire where a considerable number of Mennonites might be settled to the benefit of the state and with the same rights enjoyed by us on the Molochnaia. It is a thought that I have always carried with me on my travels in the empire. Even though I cannot point to specific conditions that must be met for the acceptance of further Mennonites in Russia, I can say that my continuing attempts in this direction have gained the approval of several highly placed persons in Russia. The situation is such that if deputies from Prussia were to come here now it should be easy to stimulate something in this regard more concretely. A communication I have just received from St. Petersburg encourages me in this hope, even though it does not spell out matters in detail.

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I would ask you to explain this matter to our Prussian brethren in faith seriously, and to encourage them warmly to consider the whole matter. It is their duty to do good to all people, but most of all to their brethren in faith. With a friendly greeting, I remain your honest friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 503. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 21 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/147.49 Your Honour, State Counsellor, I have never doubted Yr. benevolence and affection, even as I will continue to love and treasure you and make ever greater efforts to earn your friendly regard. I realize that I deserve your righteous admonition for failing to write to you. I am ashamed of my hesitation and neglect but hope for forgiveness. Trust me when I say that I will in future write you often if this is not too great a burden for you. Let me congratulate you, Mr. State Counsellor, on your newly assumed position with its many opportunities to accomplish good things. The future may well give you a higher and wider circle of activity that will give you the purest joy and fill you with the assurance that you are contributing much, very much to human happiness. One might well conclude from various arrangements that are being made here that the colonial settlements in Southern Russia may soon be placed under the authority of the Domains Bureau. Baron v. Rosen would like to ensure that the progress made by the Molochnaia villages in their economic arrangements might not be disturbed by this transfer in any way. We are happy that we will soon receive a constitution that will permit the best and highest degree of development of our economic arrangements. During his presence here, His Honour, the Minister [Kiselev], charged me to prepare an accurate description of the organization and arrangements in our Mennonite villages and to offer suggestions about additional arrangements that might enable our industry and crafts to continue their progress more effectively. As best I could, I discharged this honoured commission from the Minister by travelling

49 Regarding Minister of State Domains Kiselev’s request for a description of the Mennonite “constitution,” see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 459, 462, 503, 521.

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to Simferopol. There, on 11 October, I submitted a document with the requested description and observations to State Counsellor v. Steven for its dispatch [to the Minister]. At the same time, in response to the Minister’s wishes, Mr. Steven commissioned me to encourage Mennonites living in Prussia to send representatives to Russia to inspect land for settlement (provided that there are a considerable number of families of good agriculturalists who wish to settle in Russia), and to reach an agreement with the government in this regard. Mr. Steven told me that the Minister intends to establish settlements, modelled on those of the Molochnaia Mennonites and under the Domains administration, on lands taken from the Kirghiz in Saratov guberniia. I have written to Prussia in this connection and hope that deputies for this purpose would appear here next spring. I therefore ask you most humbly, State Counsellor, to kindly give me some information about the nature and situation of this land. Moreover, should the Kirghiz steppes be found unsuitable for the establishment of model settlements, please let me know whether there are other lands in the same guberniia, situated close to the Volga or on the Don, suitable for foreign settlement. On 6 October, Mr. Evdokimov spent several hours with me in Iushanle discussing specific matters dealing with the administration of the Mennonite villages. At his departure he said, “Perhaps this is the last time that I will visit these villages as administrator.” Summer was very dry here as well. The crops of hay and grain turned out quite well, but the price of wool has fallen. It sold for fifteen rubles in the villages, but I sold my wool in Moscow for thirty-seven rubles. There is no demand for sheep. Sericulture, however, is growing by leaps and bounds and in the Molochnaia settlement we harvested and reeled some six puds, eighteen funt of silk. Despite the worst money shortage ever experienced here, the trades in our villages continue their undisturbed progress. Houses of fired brick are being built in almost every village. The health of our people has suffered a great deal this summer, even to the present time. Sick people can be found in almost every house. I was sick for six weeks myself, as was every member of my family for shorter or longer periods of time. Eight days ago, my wife was close to death and is still sick in bed today. My daughter also has this fever. My son was married to Wilhelm Martens’s stepdaughter and will live on our Tashchenak estate and manage it. I must also report

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that their Imperial Highnesses, Archduchesses Helena Pavolovna and Maria Mikhailovna, travelled through our villages on 1 October. They took their noon meal with me at Iushanle, spent the night in Halbstadt, and were completely satisfied with the villages. After presenting me with a golden tobacco case, these regal ladies travelled on. We are all very pleased at the prospect of a visit from you on your journey to Odessa next spring. We will spare no effort to make your sojourn as pleasant as possible. May Yr. Honour be convinced of the feelings of esteem that fill my heart. I consider it to be the joy of my life to be able to call myself, with the most respectful thankfulness, Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 504. Traugott Blueher to Johann Cornies. 21 November 1841. SAOR 89-1-764/95. I was pleased to receive your two previous communications and thank you for your news. Further to my communication of 13 September, I can report that the transport of Spanish wool has arrived. Although it was partially wet on arrival, drying has restored it to a good, saleable condition and I do not anticipate any problems. The crate of silk was delivered in good condition, but since buyers are offering very low prices, I have not yet sold it nor the two crates sent earlier. Still, with a little rise in demand, I nevertheless hope to conclude this matter within [the] next few weeks. I will let you know when this happens. The two crates from State Counsellor v. Keppen were sent to Mr. Kluge in Kharkov on 21 November, with a request that they be forwarded. I send you the accounts for the sixty-three balls of last year’s Spanish wool that sold for 6379 silver rubles, twenty-six kopeks as well as current accounts for my expenses. The result is a credit of 6325 silver rubles. Many thanks for your trust in me. Although the cost for storing the wool was so high, this could not be avoided because my first duty is to promote the best interests of friends [like you]. Indeed, I have had to hire watchmen to stand guard because of a real increase in thievery since last year and break-ins that happen often. In any case, there was a real benefit in storing the wool because prices last winter were unbelievably low.

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In wishing you and your dear family the best of health, I send greetings of friendly love and remain your constant and honestly true friend, Traugott Blueher. 505. Martin Riediger to Johann Cornies. 12 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-441/13. Most esteemed sir, I have the honour to let you know that I was admitted for study to the evangelical school on 1 December and would respectfully ask you to carry out your promise. For my own part, I undertake to send you a detailed report of my progress every two months. With a cheerful disposition I sign myself as your devoted, Mart. Riediger. 506. Christian Klassen to Johann Cornies. 14 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-764/89. Most valued Mr. Cornies, Do not be offended if I appeal to you for help in regard to my unfortunate situation and ask for your assistance. As you know, some years ago the [Guardianship Committee] ordered our local district to develop more regular and extensive plantings of fruit and forest trees. In response, a garden society of five members was named and elected. To provide leadership in the development of our local plantation, the [Guardianship] Committee appointed and confirmed me in office six years ago. In the most recent election, however, I was completely shut out. It now appears that, despite my best efforts to support these generally beneficial activities, I am now forced to step down and leave my position without a salary or payment of any kind. This is contradiction to the formal promise made to me at the time of my appointment and confirmed by the Committee, namely that, if progress similar to what had been achieved in the past was made under my leadership, I would not be left without appropriate recognition and remuneration from the authorities. I do not in any way wish to force myself upon this service, but I cannot be expected to step down without any remuneration whatsoever for my six years of effort and hard work. At the time of my appointment I was given a promise to this effect in writing, yet now I am forbidden from applying personally to the Committee in this regard. For

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this reason, I appeal to you with a request that you kindly intercede on my behalf to the Committee in order that it might be informed of my removal and replacement before the election list is submitted to the local inspector. Although the inspector knows very well that it would be unjust to dismiss me without remuneration, he does not show the slightest interest in interceding on my behalf. Although at the start of my service, the plantation had existed for eight years, I found only 187 trees growing. At present, there are more than 900 trees. At that time there were 401 improved trees in nurseries, now more than 2995; then 1778 wild trees in nurseries; now more than 20,000; then 2896 seedlings; now more than 13,923, and then 1638 forest-tree seedlings, now more than 4522. During my administration 1929 of the latter seedlings were sold to colonists. In closing, I would appeal to you for as many forest-tree seeds and especially mulberry seeds as you can release. A record of these seeds and their cost should be given to gardner Rushinskii, the bearer of this letter. The money will be forwarded to you by our local District Office. Please reply to my entreaty, at least briefly. Greetings from your honest friend, Christian Klassen. 507. District Office to Johann Cornies. 15 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-764/105. According to information from the honourable Johann Penner, Pastwa, you are holding in trust 200 rubles for Johann Schmidt, Ruekkenau. The District Office requests that you pay one hundred rubles out of the Mennonite Schmidt’s funds to Johann Penner, Pastwa. Kindly inform this District Office about the results. District chairman Regier. 508. Johann Cornies to Third Department, Ministry of State Domains. 15 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-746. With communication No. 1186 from the Third Department, dated 5 November 1840, I am in receipt of three zolotnik of Chinese head cabbage seed for experimental seeding. The results are as follows: when the seed germinated only three days after seeding, the head cabbage appeared like head-mustard or rapeseed, but with somewhat larger leaves that curved. It soon went to seed, fading to pale yellow, like rapeseed or hedge mustard. I did not investigate whether it could be consumed. According to its nature, it seems to be an oil radish plant.

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Last winter most of the Whittington wheat I had hoped to harvest was smothered under a crust of ice.50 The germination of the remaining plants was so weak that when heat and drought set in at the beginning of June they all dried up. Johann Cornies. 509. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 15 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/156. Yr. Honour, State Counsellor v. Steven, I regret that I cannot send you a sample of the silk that has been reeled here as Yr. Honour requested. Our entire silk production this year was forwarded for sale on consignment, partly to Moscow and partly to Simferopol, and no samples were held back. Please ask Mr. Shishko for a sample, since he accepted a part of this silk to sell. There are two silk reeling machines in the Molochnaia Mennonite District, one located with Gerhard Enns in Altonau, the other with Claas Wiebe in Muensterberg. The silk is fed out of the kettle onto the reels through iron ears. This year’s silk is still unsold in Moscow and Simferopol. The costs of transporting the silk to Moscow were three rubles, thirty kopeks per pud. The sales commission, to date, has been three percent. Last year’s deductions totalled sixty-nine kopeks per funt. The major silk producers in the Molochnaia are Gerhard Enns, Altonau, and Jacob Neumann, Muensterberg. Although several others are involved in increasing production, these two men remain the main producers. Through their example, they continue to encourage the development of this branch of our economy, applying their knowledge with great care. The largest quantity of silk this year, some 23 funt, was produced by Peter Enns, a Mennonite from Altonau. In 1833 I had two quite thick trees of “Ailanthus glandulosa” left in my plantations, but this year they both failed. With exceptional esteem, I remain Yr. Honour’s most humble servant, Johann Cornies. 510. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 17 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/159. State Counsellor v. Steven, When I paid my respects to you, Mr. State Counsellor, at your house in Simferopol in October of this year, you asked me about the price

50 Regarding Whittington wheat, see docs. 252, 364, 371, 378, 508.

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of a common Russian peasant family house. In accordance with your wishes, I have the honour to submit a statement [not extant] detailing the prices of building materials for three of the houses built according to plan by the Nogais this year in the newly settled villages of Shuiut Dzhuret and Kisilding Oglu. I also include the ground-plan, two sideviews, and one end-view. House No. 1, the largest, is for two families, while Nos. 2 and 3 are among the smallest houses in these villages. The roofs are flat and covered with earth. The doors and windows are in proper proportion, as can be seen from the drawings. The village of forty-eight houses has a regular and attractive appearance. The Nogais were so poor that I doubted whether they would be able to build in this way. When they settled, I gave them detailed specifications for their houses and exact measurements of every piece of construction material. I also appointed a Nogai, Ali Teklenlatou, as the supervisor of house construction. Meanwhile they have built their houses amazingly quickly and cheaply. Every householder has a yard area where his house is located, twenty-five faden wide and one hundred faden long, marked off with a proper ditch. Other areas marked off in this way are the threshing floor, the garden, and the livestock yard. All this reflects a desire for good management and a love of order. With respect, I remain Yr. Honour’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 511. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 17 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/158.51 Director of the Tavrida Domains Bureau, Baron v. Rosen, Enclosed, I respectfully submit records for potatoes seeded at the expense of the crown in Melitopol Uezd as examples for the state peasants. They were seeded last spring on one desiatina plots of land in each of thirty-nine village communities. I purchased 219-1/2 chetvert of seed potatoes for this purpose. One cannot in advance determine the precise exact amount of seed needed for each desiatina because the seed needed depends on the size of the potato tubers. The larger the potato the greater is the seed needed per desiatina. For this reason, I could only estimate the average amount

51 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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needed and have this amount purchased. After the potato fields had been cultivated and seeded, there remained a surplus of four chetvert, six funt, four garnitz, of seed potatoes. Of this amount two chetvert were sold and two chetvert, six funt, four garnitz were divided among six village communities as seed, as shown in the enclosed records. Johann Cornies. 512. Philip Wiebe [for Johann Cornies] to Martin Riediger. 22 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-441/14. [Draft to Martin Riediger] Dear friend, Mr. Cornies received your letter of 12 December reporting your admission to the school on 1 December, for which I wish you every good fortune. How did Mr. Fletnitzer respond to the letter from my employer as to your acceptance, and what is the situation now in regard to the receipt of money? Please write as soon as possible since Mr. Cornies himself, or perhaps an authorized representative may be arriving in Odessa by late January 1842 to deal with some land leases and the money could be sent along at that time. Mr. Cornies gives you permission to put the postage for whatever you write on this matter on his account. Please keep records of your expenditures in order so that whatever you need can be sent to you. Perhaps Pavel Semenovich or Herr Elgokimov might be informed that Mr. Cornies or his authorized representative will be coming as mentioned. 513. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 22 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/165.52 To the Inspector General for Agriculture, State Counsellor and Knight, v. Steven, I can report that since 1838 the water tables in wells have risen. This is particularly true in villages at the source of steppe streams, in ravines, or on high places. There the water table has risen and remains at levels of from seven to twelve feet higher than before. The rise in water levels is less noticeable in villages settled in the lowlands along the Molochnaia

52 Regarding Cornies’ role in collecting environmental data, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 265, 279, 324, 423, 499, 513, 555, 556, 574, 576.

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stream and at the outlets of the Iushanle and Kurdushan streams. There it is only two to three feet higher than before. The water table in wells in many of the Russian villages in our local region has also increased by varying amounts. In the Molokan villages, especially in Novospaskoe, for example, it has increased by more than one sazhen. For the last fourteen days we have been experiencing temperatures of from seven to ten degrees below freezing. There is little moisture in the soil, strong east winds dry out our bare fields, winter grain is already suffering and our winter seeding will be destroyed if it does not snow and moisten the soil within the next eight to ten days. 514. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. Sent December 22, 1841. SAOR 89-1-176/162.53 I have now persuaded Abraham Huebert, Neukirch, a Mennonite who supervised the introduction of potato cultivation in the Russian villages of Bolshoi Tokmak and Orekhov this year, to take over supervision of potato cultivation in 1842, in the villages of Vladina, Verkhnaia-Beleskaia, Veseloie, Mumanoi, Kiltshikskaia, Elmisogashchskaia, and Iuskiuskaia in the Dneprov District. I think he is clever and able enough to supervise the cultivation of potatoes to which we assigned two of the best apprentices [as assistants]. Under the leadership of Mennonites, they have been occupied with the cultivation of potato fields in the Melitopol district this year. To do this I have offered to pay Huebert 200 rubles, silver, and free transportation and he has accepted the offer. I think no one here would be willing to do it more cheaply. If you think the salary is reasonable, please send me a resolution of this matter as soon as you can. I think it best, if no snow has yet fallen, for the Elders to inspect the fields already prepared for potato planting, immediately after the New Year, to establish whether the location and soil are suitable for potato planting. I would then ensure that the Mennonite Huebert and his two apprentices would work to ensure that potato planting can proceed as soon as spring arrives. One must also remember that spring arrives several

53 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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weeks earlier in the Dneprov than in the Melitopol districts and that there is usually less rain there than here over the summer. To ensure that no time is lost, I would ask that Yr. Honour have the district chief order the Elders in the above-mentioned villages to provide Huebert and his two apprentices with the necessary transportation and workers for this job. As for me, I would ask that several horses, etc., be set aside for my use in the event that it should become necessary for me to travel around the potato fields over the summer. I would ask that during January 1842, the Domains Bureau send me an authorization for Huebert, as well as the superviser and the apprentices, but especially for Huebert, so that he has at his disposal fresh horses at all times. [sentence unreadable] 515. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. SAOR 89-1-661/8. 23 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-661/8. Thank you, my dear, valued Cornies, for your welcome letter of 21 November. I have never doubted that you would always remain my good friend. I wish you much good fortune on the marriage of your son. He is a good, upright young man and under your sensible guidance will surely become useful to your community and to humanity in general. I am very pleased that the Minister now knows you personally. The Kirghiz land can in no respect be intended for settlement by Mennonites. It is far away from the Volga and has bad water. Although there are good hay meadows, the rest of it consists of saltpeter and sand. Added to this is the difficulty of getting it away from the Kirghiz. The Khan will plead and lament and finally, tired of his complaints, the government will allow him to keep it. If the Minister wishes, however, it would be easier for him to find and assign better land that would accommodate a few hundred families. There are smaller regions suitable for such settlements in the Nikolaievka area. If you leave it to me, I will establish their location. I have now been given a number of local settlements to supervise, which is a new burden and new work, but I will endeavour to do as best I can. As for your villages, I think that changes will not be made quickly by the Domains administration since an assistant to General Inzov has already been named. I intend to travel to Petersburg on business on 10 January, and presumably stay there for several months. I am at your service if you

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have anything you would like me to do. We have severe frost but no snow. Wishing you happiness and good fortune. How is our good Martens’s health? Your constant and devoted Fadeev. 516. Johann Wiebe (Neuteich, Prussia) to Johann Cornies. 23 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-441/25.54 Esteemed friend, In response to your communication of 18 November requesting contributions for the purchase of Bibles, I can report that I have tried to take collections in support of the dissemination of the Word of God among Evangelicals in the Russian Empire in two villages, Franzthal and Rudnerweide. The amount is 120 rubles. I could not meet the due dates and must ask your forgiveness. I was first somewhat delayed in making these collections and then the illness of my dear wife delayed turning the money over to you at the promised time. Remaining with respect, your devoted friend, Johann Wiebe. 517. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Kauenhowen. 28 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/165v. Heinrich Kauenhowen in Lichtenau, with Miller Heidebrecht, Esteemed friend, I received your letter and regret that you have failed to find secure quarters for yourself and are now in so precarious a situation. I am at a loss to know where and with whom H. Martens thinks quarters might be available at Tashchenak. Although a number of Mennonites live along this steppe-river, only my estate is actually called Tashchenak and all of its rooms are occupied by lodgers. Perhaps H. Martens is thinking about Neuteich, on the upper Tashchenak, where several Mennonite families live on their own land. Since I visit them infrequently if ever, I am unfamiliar with their household circumstances. Perhaps you might visit T. Wiens, Altonau, over the next few days. He can provide

54 This is the clearest example of several reports about Bible Society donations found in SAOR 89-1-441.

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you with information and advice and would be happy to do so. He certainly knows the household and family conditions of many people in our district as well as in Tashchenak better than I do. Still, if I can be of service to you with a little advice I would be glad to do so. Please come by tomorrow, Sunday, in the morning. With honest sympathy, I remain your servant, Johann Cornies. 518. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 29 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/166v.55 Baron v. Rosen, On 18 December, Mr. Mitzkevich, the local district supervisor, reported that about a third of the first-quality potatoes stored in a pit in the village community of Aul had begun to rot. Apparently the Elder noticed this when he discovered that the top of the pit had collapsed and opened it. Since it is impossible for the potato pit to have collapsed, I suspected foul play. Strong timbers had namely been laid over the opening of the pit and then the pit had been covered with straw and dirt. Even if all of the potatoes had been rotten, this would not have resulted in a noticeable sinking of the earthen mound over the pit. As a result, on 22 December I sent out Mennonite Abraham Huebert who had overseen potato cultivation in this village and the storage of the potatoes in the pit. Today Huebert reported that, during an investigation on 23 December, he had found no sign of rot in any of the potatoes. The pit had been opened, then covered with light grass, but the potatoes had all been sound. In fact, despite the Elder’s insistence to the contrary, Huebert failed to find a single potato with rot, much less potatoes that were fully rotted. Nor could he produce any rotten potatoes when Huebert demanded this of him. Huebert could not determine with certainty the number of potatoes taken from the pit, but concluded that the potatoes in question were not rotten but had been stolen and sold. In bringing this matter to Yr. Honour’s attention, let me add that I think that the district supervisor should send a stern and explicit order

55 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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to all Elders in his district demanding that they assume responsibility to ensure that all such potatoes are watched over to prevent their theft or destruction in any manner. Moreover, a careful investigation should be made of the above-mentioned case in Aul to determine where the potatoes from the pit had gone. Johann Cornies. P.S. Huebert questioned the Elder about the number of rotten potatoes that had been removed from the pit. The Elder replied that since he had not been present himself, he did not know how many rotten potatoes had been removed but all of the potatoes were gone. I fail to understand this last declaration. If only the potatoes at the top of the pit had been rotten, which is quite unlikely, Huebert would clearly have found more rotting potatoes during his investigation, even if only a few. However, Huebert reported that the pit was completely dry and it was impossible to find one single rotten potato. It is also strange that this problem affected only the first, largest and best quality of potatoes, which had attained their full growth, while second-quality potatoes remained unaffected. It should finally be noted that the apprentices who had worked on the cultivation of these potatoes during the summer, were not present during the removal of the [supposedly] rotten potatoes. 519. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 29 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-746/168v. Mr. Rosen, Maloi, District Chairman of Chernigov district, appeared in my house in Ohrloff on 16 December and asked me for advice as to what he might do in regard to Bolinskii, his District Secretary, who is conducting illegal transactions in Maloi’s name. The District Chairman fears that these might cause him much misfortune, especially and particularly because he, the District Chairman, does not know how to read or to write. Until now, Paluliakh, the District Secretary’s assistant, was an honest person, who explained to him all written business matters going in and out of the District Office. Now, with his trouble-making, the District Secretary has been able to bring about the forced removal of Paluliakh and his replacement by Walinskii, from Ekaterinoslav Guberniia. The latter is, without a doubt, of the same mind as Bolinskii, and they will now proceed in tandem.

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Amidst his various remarks, the District Chairman asked me for advice on how he might be released from this position. When I explained to him frankly that I could not possibly do such a thing, he begged for my help on the grounds that both Rosen and I were solicitous of the peasants’ welfare. 520. Khariton T. Pelekh to District Office. 31 December 1841. SAOR 89-1-782/3.56 Copy: From Inspector of Colonies, Second District To the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, The Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in southern Russia sent its directive No. 5984 of 17 December to inform me that in accordance with the enclosed extract, candidates elected as District Deputy Chairmen and village mayors have been confirmed in office except Peter Toews, the Mennonite elected as District Chairman, who has not been thus confirmed because his advanced age makes it impossible for him to discharge the responsibilities of this office adequately. The candidate selected for this position, the Mennonite Jacob Penner, on the other hand, has not yet been transferred from the Khortitsa to the Molochnaia district. The Guardianship Committee requires more information about the District Chairman and about village mayors elected in the villages of Grossweide, Liebenau, Sparrau, and Landskrone, who have not been confirmed. The other village mayors and deputies as well as the Deputy Chairmen can, however, be admitted to the positions they are charged with, and carry out their duties according to the basic law. Sending you the enclosed electoral lists to this District Office, I hereby order that the elected and confirmed District Deputy Chairmen and village Elders be admitted to carry out their duties, based on the law. However, a special decision will have to be made with respect to the District Chairman and village mayors in Grossweide, Liebenau, Sparrau, and Landskrone. 31 December 1841. Inspector of Colonies Pelekh.

56 These elections would become the central focus of the Warkentin affair. See TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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521. Johann Cornies’ description of the administrative and other arrangements instituted for the functioning of the Molochnaia Mennonite District in 1841. December 1841(?). RGIA 398-9-2796/73v.57 I. The Molochnaia Mennonite District is administered by a District Office that consists of three members, the chairman and two assistant chairmen. They are selected by the whole community, the chairman for three years and each of the assistant chairmen for two years, with a new assistant chairman assuming office each year. They serve for stipulated salaries. The obligations of the District Office are as follows: 1. The District Office collects all crown taxes and community dues, keeps accounts of them, and makes detailed reports locally in this regard. 2. The District Office seeks to increase the community’s income and to use this income for the benefit of the community. It applies for permission to do so to the Guardianship Committee through the Inspector. The Inspector submits annual accounts of income and expenditures to the Committee. 3. The District Office keeps accurate records of increases or decreases in the District population that are to be submitted to the [Guardianship] Committee through the Inspector. 4. Based on the laws of the New Russia guberniias, the District Office provides District inhabitants with travel passports and ensures that no foreigners reside in the District without such passports. 5. The District Office ensures that order is maintained in the villages and that all roads and bridges are kept in an orderly condition at all times. 6. The District Office assigns compulsory community duties to each of its members and, on the basis of guberniia guidelines,

57 A rough draft of this document appears in SAOR 89-1-759, Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen, 2 December 1841. It exists in numerous other drafts. The one reproduced here is a complete version drawn from the Russian State Historical Archive, 398-9-2765-96 (1845). Regarding Minister of State Domains Kiselev’s request for a description of the Mennonite “constitution,” see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 459, 462, 503, 521.

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determines a year in advance the duties that each individual is required to discharge. It is at pains to ensure that no unnecessary travel is included among the labour duties required by all members of society. 7. The District Office adjudicates transactions between inhabitants, punishing minor infractions with financial penalties or community work, while sending cases involving more serious crimes to the courts. 8. The District Office publicizes all government directives and orders to the community, and circulates messages requested by individuals, regarding, for example, auction sales, lost cattle, departures to foreign countries, etc. 9. The District Office requires the Orphans’ Administration to account for monies belonging to minors and ensures that orphans, upon attaining majority, receive what belongs to them. 10. The District Office confirms contracts for the sale of property and products, etc., and hence also their validity. 11. The District Office provides powers of attorney and receipts for foreign money received, or to be received, and forwards these to the administration for confirmation and forwarding. 12. The District office takes measures against contagious illnesses when they occur. 13. The District Office ensures that stipulated quantities of grain are maintained in emergency granaries, keeps accounts of such reserves, and makes appropriate reports to the [Guardianship] Committee through the inspector. 14. The District Office ensures that accurate weights and measures are maintained throughout the District. 15. The District Office maintains the exterior borders of the District in an orderly manner and, in general, ensures that there are no causes for disputes between neighbours in this regard. 16. The District Office acts as a skilled advocate on behalf of villagers in the District in business transactions or disputes between themselves and outsiders. 17. When the District Office so orders, fire administrators are chosen by the community, and confirmed in their positions by that Office. They are obligated to report to the District Office all cases involving fire damage, including the cause of fires and the costs of the incurred damage. 18. The fire administrators appraise damage to property on the basis of the valuation of the property as spelled out in the fire

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regulations. They collect the appraised sum from village inhabitants and reimburse those suffering loss. 19. The fire administrators are obliged to ensure that each occupant maintains appropriate fire implements in good condition at his house and that there are no easily flammable items kept close to chimney flues and stoves. They ensure that regular inspections of these matters by the village fire supervisor take place each month. The District Office keeps strict watch to ensure that tobacco is not smoked on village streets or in places where easily flammable objects are kept. Chimneys must be constructed of fired bricks and special small buildings erected to contain ashes on each yard. 20. Village mayors’ offices are under the direct administration of the District Office. They consist of a mayor and two assistants. The mayor receives a salary. The District Office calls upon the village community to elect village officials, who are confirmed in office by the [Guardianship] Committee. Mayors serve for two years, assistants for one year. Offices of the village mayors execute all directives pertaining to the village community when ordered to do so by the District Office, the [Agricultural] Society, the orphan administrators, and the fire administrators. 21. Village mayors’ offices keep accounts of income and expenditure, assign compulsory community duties, and ensure precise order in all things directed for the benefit of the village community. 22. Village mayors’ offices also settle business transactions and disputes and may punish persons found guilty of neglecting village order with penalties of community duties, which are not to exceed a few kopeks. Cases meriting more severe punishments are referred to the District Office. 23. The District Office is responsible for police administration in general, according to the guiding principles of the Instruction for Arrangements and Administration of the New Russia settlements. II. In addition to the District Office, the administration of the Molochnaia Mennonite settlement is shared with a Society for the Effective Dissemination of Forest and Orchard Cultivation, Sericulture, and Viticulture and Also the Advancement of Agriculture and the Trades. The Society consists of a Chairman, two assistant chairmen, and two members who serve for an indefinite period without remuneration. The Society maintains its own office supported by general taxation. At the time of the establishment of the Society, the Chairman was chosen and confirmed in office by the Chief Curator for the Southern Russian

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settlements. Its first members were appointed by the Curator. Future members are to be chosen from the community by the Society and then confirmed in office by the [Guardianship] Committee. Obligations: 1. According to the Instruction and Directives conferred upon this Society, it has the responsibility to ensure that the agricultural prosperity of the settlement grows. The Society is to promote the trades and plantations and introduce new branches of agriculture and trades that will promote a general rise in the morality, decency, diligence, and thrift of the community. Generally, the Society should introduce [new] arrangements in a way that achieves for all Molochnaia residents the highest level of perfection as quickly as possible. This achievement would justify the government’s expectation that in granting Mennonites important privileges over all other [foreign] settlers these privileges had not been granted in vain. To achieve this result, the Lord Head Curator for Colonists in Southern Russia has issued an Instruction for the Promotion and Dissemination of Forest Tree and Orchard Cultivation, Sericulture, and Viticulture as well as several directives for the advancement of all branches of agriculture. The Guardianship Committee has authorized the Society to observe and supervise all branches of agriculture independently of the Inspector, as spelled out in the Instruction for the Interior Arrangements and Administration of Foreign Settlements. The Society is empowered to issue regulations for the general good, which are to be implemented on behalf of all residents by the mayors’ offices in every village. 2. In accordance with the Directives and Instructions, the Society should use every means to gradually improve all facets of the life of the Molochnaia Mennonite District, and thus ensure that all difficulties that might disrupt the peace of the community are forestalled. In encouraging the good behaviour and diligence of all neglectful persons who have made themselves guilty of punishment, the Society follows the Instruction for the Interior Administration of Settlements. The Society is equally empowered to warn disobedient, refractory, and unreliable fullholders that, unless they improve, they will be evicted from [their fullholding] and the fullholding will be transferred to a dependable young person recommended to the [Guardianship] Committee by the Society. The Society also ensures that the person so evicted will

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be able, through his own diligence, to again prosper within the community. 3. The Society ensures that every new house is built in accordance with Society rules and that specific plans for such houses are provided to members of the community. 4. Owners of new houses under construction are required to sign promises to the Society that they will carry out their specified [tree] planting obligations in a timely manner. 5. Forest tree and orchard cultivation is promoted by the Society. It does so by obligating every fullholder to plant a half-desiatina of forest trees on his plantation and a one-desiatina fruit orchard in his yard, the former to the extent possible, the latter by planting ten to forty trees per year. The years are to be counted from the date of the founding of his village. Cottagers, that is, families who have houses but no land, should also plant as many trees around their houses as possible. The mayor of each village will annually send a record of trees planted to the Society. Special rules have been drawn up for the planting of forest trees and fruit trees. 6. The Society encourages villagers in their pursuit of sericulture and in the development of mulberry tree plantations. It provides bonuses [for outstanding achievements in the field] and seeks to find markets for the products of silk producers. 7. The Society seeks to increase the cultivation of vegetables, primarily of potatoes, whose cultivation on fields should be systematically pursued. 8. To foster the better and more convenient use of meadows, the Society arranges to have willows planted in low-lying areas, around dams and wells, and at remote livestock watering places. 9. The Society seeks to increase viticulture and beekeeping and to disseminate information about tobacco cultivation. 10. To improve fullholdings, the Society has issued a rule stipulating that fullholders will be permitted to sell their holdings only if they can demonstrate that they have improved them appreciably during the period of their ownership. Specifically, in addition to the care of buildings, which must have been kept in good order at all times, they should have planted a considerable number of fruit and forest trees that are growing well, improved cultivated fields to a more productive state, occupied themselves with potato and flax cultivation to the greatest possible degree, and taken good care of their livestock. Moreover, if they wish to purchase or settle

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on another fullholding, they must demonstrate that good order and diligence are evident in all parts of their present fullholding. Otherwise they must provide the Society with a written agreement undertaking to raise the level of their fullholding to the required state. 11. To eventually enable less well-to-do but diligent and thrifty younger families to become owners of fullholdings, and to ensure that such fullholdings are occupied by able-bodied people, the Society has issued a directive that permits two families to purchase and work a single fullholding in cooperation with each other. 12. The Society seeks to increase the grass grown on hay meadows by building dams at suitable sites. 13. The Society experiments with fodder plants to avoid fodder shortages when population increases. It also actively seeks to stimulate the introduction of manufacturing and dye plants useful for the population. 14. The Society inspects practices employed by fullholders in the cultivation and fallowing of their ploughlands. 15. The Society instructs villagers, and provides examples of ways of improving soils to render them more productive. 16. The Society encourages the introduction of better tools and machines to increase the productivity of ploughland agriculture and the crafts. 17. Society members, from time to time, tour district villages examining the households of fullholders, professionals, and day labourers to identify holdings that are in a state of disorder and disrepair, while commending the holdings of superior householders. 18. Inhabitants are informed that they may seek the advice of the Society in every situation and submit complaints to it at any time. 19. The Society settles business matters and arguments on all subjects mentioned in Sections 59, 60, 62, and 63 of the Instruction for the Interior Administration of Settlements, and similar directives. Offenders are subject to penalties of monetary fines or the performance of community labour. 20. The Society sternly ensures that dwellings, barns, granaries, and fences are kept clean, in good repair, and in the best of order. 21. The Society seeks to increase the number of professional craftsmen in the District, to ensure that their products are well manufactured and to provide credit to the most honourable and diligent among them.

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22. The Society similarly encourages common craftsmen and day labourers in their endeavours, obligating itself to ensure that they also receive good earnings, depending on the level of their skills. 23. The Society firmly guards against the inclination of anyone to indolence and seeks to ensure that industrious activity remains brisk and is without interruption throughout the winter. 24. The Society gives preference to the most diligent and decent poor young families, providing places for them to construct houses and ensuring that poor and weak families are accommodated and receive housing. 25. The Society encourages all trades and recommends support for anyone who is worthy thereof. Loans are available [for worthy individuals] from private lenders in the community at monthly interest rates, while money from the Orphans’ Administration is made available for longer loan periods. This permits such funds to circulate within the community. 26. The Society is zealous in its efforts to ensure that inhabitants do not fall into excessive debt to one another. No villager may purchase a fullholding until the Society has assured itself that he is not placing himself into debt beyond what he can manage. 27. Similarly, the oppression of the poor or weak by well-to-do or rich villagers is prohibited. Monopolies are forbidden. 28. To ensure that credit is available to the community, that fullholdings rise in value, and that crafts are enlivened, the Society diligently acquires dependable knowledge about the economic circumstances of each inhabitant. In cases where a person is found to be overburdened with debt, the Society, to satisfy his creditors, compels him to sell his fullholding and belongings. 29. The Society firmly insists that verbal agreements or agreements recorded on ordinary paper are kept, and punishes offenders for breaches of good faith. 30. The Society seeks to introduce better horses, horned cattle, sheep, and pigs into [Mennonite] rural communities. 31. Acting jointly with the District Office, the Society plans new settlements and selects the best, most capable and well-to-do young families for residence in them. This is done on the basis of a rule that exists for the establishment of new settlements. 32. Once village mayors in the District have been elected to office, the Society examines [their credentials] jointly with members of

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the District Office and insists that those deemed unfit for office be replaced by other candidates. 33. To foster increases in the price of grain for villagers, the Society encourages the construction of granaries in the port of Berdiansk. 34. To foster an increase in the agricultural knowledge of villagers, the Society provides access to books, journals, and agricultural newspapers, which may be borrowed from its library. 35. The Society conducts correspondence in Russia advertising the sale of agricultural products and implements produced in the [Molochnaia Mennonite] community. 36. The Society submits an annual report to the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in South Russia outlining its activities for the preceding year [and providing] detailed financial accounts, and plans for the coming year. III. Inheritance rules for foreign settlers in Southern Russia, as well as brief comments on their present application in the Molochnaia Mennonite villages. If a fullholder should die without children or heirs or if someone should find it impossible to manage his fullholding because of ill health or infirmity, it is necessary to pass this fullholding on to someone else. This may be done only at the discretion of the community and with the agreement of the [Guardianship] Committee. In each case, the person taking over a fullholding must assume all crown taxes for which the old and weakened person was liable. In conformity with the practices and inheritance rules that Mennonites brought with them [from Prussia], Mennonite villages have established an Orphans’ Administration that functions under the supervision of the District Office. Based on the size of the district, it consists of two or more dependable men. Called orphans’ administrators, they are chosen from within the district. After the death of a landowner or his wife, and on the basis of inheritance rules existing among the Mennonites, the Orphans Administration makes decisions regarding the disposal of the estate. 1. Land granted the decedent is not to be included in assessing the value of the property to be divided. 2. The remainder of the decedent’s estate is to be conscientiously appraised in detail before it is divided among the heirs. The orphan administrators are present during this appraisal, as are members of

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the village office and heirs. Should the heirs be minors, their guardians are to be present, and if the mother survives, her curators [are to be present] as well. All crown debts and overdue community and private debts are subtracted from the amount appraised. Half of the balance is given to the surviving spouse, male or female, and the other half is divided equally among the children of the deceased, or his other legitimate heirs, whether male or female. 3. In every case, the male or female executor retains ownership of the land but is obligated to raise and support the minor children until they reach the age of majority. The divided capital inherited by minors remains theirs without interest and may only be paid out by the person who has authority over the land when they reach the age of majority. 4. If the spouse of a deceased has entered a second marriage before her death, the inheritance is treated in the same way. 5. As a rule, the children left behind only inherit from their own father and mother. When both spouses die together or soon after the other, the movable and immovable property left behind is also appraised and the total, after subtraction of debts, is divided equally among the heirs, male and female. 6. If one of the married children wishes to retain ownership of the land, and is thought to possess the required intellectual powers, money, and other good moral characteristics to maintain the fullholding well and in a robust condition, the fullholding is left to him on condition that, after agreement is reached, he pays the minor heirs their portion. He must also raise the minors to their age of majority and ensure their maintenance, for which purpose he uses the capital sums belonging to them without interest until they reach the age of majority. The minors must be well brought up and maintained by the owner of the land. The orphan administrators confirmed for this purpose must keep watch over their wards. 7. In a case where no heirs wish to take over the fullholding left by the deceased, or if leaving them the fullholding is not approved because of their meagre property, or if no agreement can be reached in this regard, the entire estate, including the land, is sold at auction to the highest bidder. In this case the purchaser should have the necessary means, be a good householder, and exhibit morally good conduct. The money obtained from the selling of the property, after debts are subtracted, is divided equally among the heirs.

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The capital sums inherited by the minors are lent out in the community at interest, which can be used to support them if needed. Supervision of the orphans’ capital and the accounts involved is carried out by supervisors from the District Office, the orphan administrators, and the guardians. 8. The children removed from their parental home in this way are entrusted to the care and training of well-meaning community members and stand directly under the supervision of their guardians. The guardians should take fatherly care of the minor heirs to ensure that when they have reached their majority they are in a position to settle or purchase a new piece of land using the accumulated interest on their capital sums, their own savings, or through an advantageous marriage with a person of larger means. Mennonites pay less attention to the inherited money or wealth of an heir than to his irreproachable conduct, exemplary diligence, and thrift that would enable him to obtain and use what he has acquired. 9. According to section three, paragraph number twenty-nine of the Instruction for the Interior Management of the Settlements, it is not advantageous to allow guardians to manage the land left to minor children after the death of both parents. Fullholdings managed by individuals other than their owners usually deteriorate. Because the buildings and other facilities on a holding are not infrequently valued at one to two thousand silver rubles, the heir is usually not in a position to assume the fullholding of his parents himself and also to pay his siblings the part of the inheritance owing to them, especially since the latter are often quite numerous. Should all of them work the fullholding together they may well be held back in their zeal to improve their well-being and increase their property. Mennonite experience confirms this generalization. When an individual family purchases a fullholding, it is in a position to manage the holding much better and bring it to a level of greater productivity, even with the support of hired help. 10. Frequently owners of a fullholding may find it necessary to sell their property because of an accident, failing health, deaths, or family circumstances. On occasion they may even be forced to relinquish a holding to others because of their indebtedness. In the latter case, a person is not permitted to acquire another fullholding by purchase, or to settle on a new one, even if he possesses the required means. All such householders support themselves on

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the interest payments of the capital funds generated by the sale of their fullholding, or as craftsmen or day labourers, and reside on the circa half-desiatina [cottager] lots already assigned to them in each village. IV. Rules if two families intend to take possession of a fullholding. Such families are required to accept and observe the following conditions: 1. Attention should be paid to both families to ensure their good conduct, that they are industrious, tidy, and peaceful people, who are not heavily indebted or might become so by assuming responsibility for a fullholding. 2. These two families are not permitted to live anywhere other than in the house on the hearthsite of the property for which they have assumed responsibility. In case the families are too large and there is not enough space for them in one house, they are allowed to build a neighbouring house on the fullholding for one of the families following the [established] order for the design of yards. 3. One of these two families is recognized as the actual householder and has the legal confirmation of this fact while the other family is considered to be the assistant family. At the same time, both families possess equal portions of the hearthsite with respect to its use as well as to all other rights inherent in the possession of a hearthsite. For this reason, neither family can claim any prerogatives over the other. 4. Both families are equally obligated to construct new agricultural buildings and fences and to make all repairs to agricultural and other arrangements. Cleanliness and order in and around the buildings is expected of both. For this reason, neither of these families can use the excuse that this or that function is none of its business. They are absolutely not permitted to divide up the planting at the hearthsite and in the forest tree plantation. The latter must be done by both working together. 5. These two families are not permitted to agree between themselves that they will live and work together for a specific number of years, and neither has the right to force the other to renounce his fullholding. According to the Instruction, each of them is free to retain and improve the fullholding and to live on it as long as he wishes.

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6. If one of these holders wishes to pass the fullholding along to someone else, they are at liberty to do so as long as the person in question is approved by the village community and by the remaining fullholder. 7. Both fullholders are together responsible for all community obligations, of whatever designation, which they are expected to carry out as owners of a hearthsite. They may both appear in the community assembly in the village office, but they have only one vote. 8. They are allowed to divide and use the hay meadows and plough land in equal parts. 9. If major arguments and disputes arise, and there are no mitigating circumstances, they must both be prepared to lose the fullholding and to relinquish it to peaceful families. Blessings can only flow under conditions of peace, harmony, and mutual support. If only one of the parties is principally quarrelsome and not inclined to peace, then this party will be removed from the fullholding and will lose [his share] of the fullholding. 10. If two families decide that they no longer wish to work a fullholding together and are in a position to manage one on their own, they may come to an understanding in this regard. This can most suitably and advantageously be done by having the two parties arrange an auction of the improved fullholding between themselves, with the assistance and in the presence of two neighbours as witnesses. The party making the highest bid would then naturally stay on the fullholding. 11. All families who in future wish to take over a fullholding must appear at the Agricultural Society together, both the fullholder and the assistant fullholder, to obligate themselves to do their specified tree planting. For this reason, the mayor’s offices should also take note of the assistant fullholder in this regard. V. Rules for the settlement of Mennonite families on crown land confirmed for settlement but not yet settled in the Molochnaia Mennonite District. The purpose of the settlement of Mennonites, preferably young families, on unsettled crown lands confirmed for them, is not only to establish villages but also to ensure that good, durable dwelling houses and side buildings are constructed and that they are economically well established. Cleanliness and order should adorn a holding and reflect

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good agricultural management. The settlers should improve their situation and achieve prosperity as quickly as possible, exhibiting great diligence and thrift that would enable them to establish and maintain themselves in a prosperous condition. To achieve the above, the following is necessary: 1. Each time a decision is made to found a new settlement, the members of the District Office and of the Society for the Dissemination of Plantings and Improvement of Agriculture should hold a joint meeting in September to discuss the intended settlement and to decide provisionally what number of families are considered necessary to be settled in the coming year and whether one village or more than one village should be established. 2. A second meeting should be scheduled after the above deliberations have been held inviting all young families that wish to settle in a new village to attend. When all such young families have gathered, members of the District Office and the Society designated for this purpose should determine, impartially and in good conscience, which people are most suitable to form a [new] village community, namely those who show brotherly love for one another, and are calm and inclined to carry out all administrative directives for their own peace and for the whole Mennonite brotherhood. 3. All families thus considered as qualified and suitable for settlement, and thus eligible for this purpose, are people recognized in the community as diligent, energetic, peaceful, and thrifty. They should live irreproachable lives, possess sufficient means to set up a proper agricultural household, and demonstrate that they are capable of managing it and all of its branches well. They should possess enough ready cash, livestock, and agricultural implements to fulfil what is administratively required of them. 4. After the most qualified people capable of settlement have been selected, the members of the District Office and the Society must act without delay to find sites suitable for one or more villages, depending on the decision. They must inspect the sites, taking into account all possible advantages for settlement. When they have together reached an agreement and recognized a location as suitable for the establishment of a village, the area must be assigned for this purpose. Accurate plans should then be made to accompany the lists of families selected for settlement in each

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village, and these should be submitted to the Guardianship Committee for its permission and confirmation. 5. After permission and confirmation have been granted for the intended settlement, the selected settlers should immediately be called together and informed that administrative permission for their desired settlement has been given. It is then their duty to form village communities according to the number of families to be settled to ensure that each of the communities formed in this way can elect its village Elders in a timely manner. The Elders should secure building materials and household and agricultural implements during the winter that would enable villagers to begin work in spring. 6. Once spring arrives and the snow is gone, members of the District Office and the Society should take measures to have the areas for the establishment of each village divided into hearthsites without delay and to have these marked off by furrows. Similarly, all the land belonging to each village should be divided into ploughlands, hay meadows, forest tree plantations, etc., according to the number of fullholders. These boundaries too should be marked with ploughed furrows. 7. When the hearthsites and the fields have been marked off in this way, the fullholders of each new village shall cast lots for the hearthsites.The hearthsite each fullfolder receives in this way is unquestionably theirs to develop. Such a draw must be conducted in the presence of one member of the District Office, a Society member, and a representative of the village office in question. As soon as the construction sites have been assigned by lot, the settlers are ordered to go to their hearthsite without delay. 8. To promote the establishment of a new village settlement quickly and to safeguard it for the settlers, two families will be required to settle on each hearthsite until such time as they have together built a dwelling and side buildings required for an orderly fullholding and have organized them completely. Experience has taught that often the most diligent families in possession of the necessary able-bodied workers find themselves, even with their best efforts, in oppressive situations because of misfortunes such as illness, the death of livestock, similar occurrences that commonly occur in new settlements, and the forced passing on of fullholdings to others. Yet if two families first settle on one hearthsite and jointly work to construct and completely arrange the dwelling

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by September of the first year, the possibility of such catastrophies may be avoided. 9. Two families settled on one hearthsite will, for the time being, receive only an area of land designated for one hearthsite, specifically sixty-five desiatinas. Hence half of the hearthsites in each [new] village will remain unsettled until two fullholders, working together, complete the construction of a dwelling and side buildings on a single hearthsite and establish all parts of a hearthsite satisfactorily. Only then may each householder demand a hearthsite consisting of sixty-five desiatinas of land for himself. The settled and already developed hearthsite is then left in the possession of one of these householders, according to their own agreement. The other householder, if in possession of the required resources, receives one of the still unsettled hearthsites in the village for the construction of his dwelling and side buildings. 10. However, if familes among the settlers possess sufficient wealth to pledge themselves to construct a durable dwelling of fired bricks on a stone foundation and other agricultural side buildings of the required size and, additionally, possess the good qualities described in section 2, above, they may preferentially be granted the requisite quantity of sixty-five desiatinas of land and a hearthsite for themselves at the time of the founding of the village. 11. All families assigned to a new settlement are required to construct at least a dwelling on the site of their settlement by September of the first year, and to have it well arranged and in a liveable condition. During the second year, they are required to construct the required side buildings. During the third year the hearthsite should be enclosed within the prescribed ditches and preparations made for tree planting. 12. The settlers are required to hire a schoolteacher during the first year of their settlement. If resources or time are not sufficient to construct a schoolhouse, a large room in the house of a fullholder in the new village should be rented for this purpose. Should this space not provide enough space to house the newly hired schoolteacher, a dwelling should be provided for his use. 13. A cemetery should be laid out at the time of the founding of the village. In accordance with the directives, it should be situated at a specific distance from the houses on a site appropriate to its purpose, even if ditches are not dug around it during the first year. Furrows should mark off its requisite size. When the cemetery has

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been enclosed within a ditch, the mound of soil enclosing the ditch should in all cases be planted with whatever fast-growing bushes the land and the properties of the soil permit, e.g., hawthorn, etc. VI. Regulation of duty credits for community work required of members of the Molochnaia Mennonite District. A firm rule is established, measured by the time required, to divide all obligatory services required [of members of the Molochnaia Mennonite District] in a manner that ensures that no one will be either favoured or disadvantaged in their discharge. Each specified service is assigned a value that is equal to eight kopeks banco. A. Rules: 1. Compulsory duties consist of two parts, duties for the whole community and duties for the village, or general duties and local duties. 2. General or community duties consist of all work carried out on orders of the District Office. 3. Local or village duties consist of all work done specifically for the benefit of the village community as ordered by the Village Office. 4. Fullholders who fall behind in the duties they owe are strongly urged to perform their obligatory services. Provision should be made to ensure that all necessary long journeys and matters of business are rotated [among members of the village community]. In the same way, a fullholder who falls behind in the performance of his duties must be given preference in the assignment of new duties, while keeping in mind his ability [to carry them out]. 6. Each village mayor keeps two sets of books, one to record general duty credits and one to record local duty credits. These must be calculated annually, the former by the District Office, the latter by the village office. 7. Every fullholder with a considerable surplus of duty credits can exchange these with another fullholder who has fallen behind in his duty credits for labour or other duties on his own fullholding on the basis of decisions to which they have mutually agreed. He can also sell them for cash. At the end of the year these credits or shortfalls of the two fullholders in question are to be calculated. B. Regulation of duty credits outside of the District: 8. Four credits for the work of one man with one horse and harness and one wagon or sled, together with everything else needed

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for light journeys of more than twenty-four verstas outside of the District from 1 May to 5 June; Six credits from 5 June to 5 August; Four credits from 5 August to 11 November; Five credits from 11 November to 15 March; Six credits from 15 March to 1 May. 9. For journeys outside of the District where night travel is required, the applicable credits are double the number of those for day travel. 10. For journeys under twenty-four verstas, one credit is granted for every five verstas of travel. 11. For the return travel of a load or person, one half of the applicable credits are granted. However, if a vehicle is required to wait for a load or a person, it will receive one additional credit for each item transported for every twelve hours of wait time. Should the vehicle return empty, it receives no credits. 12. If stones or other materials are transported from outside the district, the applicable credits are assigned to drivers on the basis of the distance of their return trip plus another credit for loading each cart. 13. If a journey with a loaded wagon cannot be completed in one day, and incurs additional costs, the District Office will pay up to two rubles banco more for each wagon involved. 14. To forward letters, one duty credit will be granted for journeys of up to five verstas and possibly less, if it is closer. If such a journey is on horseback and at a greater distance than five verstas, every five additional verstas will be recompensed with two credits, but no credits will be granted for the return journey. Should an opportunity arise to forward letters with carts or messengers that are returning on their own business, the credit will be halved. C. Regulation of duty credits for obligatory services in the District: 15. One duty credit will be granted for the transport of an item over a distance of five verstas within the District. Should a wagon return empty, however, no credits will be granted [for the return trip]. However, if a person travels on community business, the team will receive half of the usual credit when it returns. 16. To deliver one letter, the credit is the same as that itemized in No. 14, above. If it is sent outside of the District, the credits will be subjected to further consideration.

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17. If the transport of building materials or other heavy loads is required within the District, carts will receive the usual credits set out in No. 15, above, for both ways plus one credit to load the cart. 18. For community obligations that employ people, horses, oxen with carts, the driver receives four credits per day during harvest time and six credits per day outside of harvest time [sic?]. One horse, one ox, or one cart receives four credits during harvest time and three outside of harvest time. 19. If on a journey it is necessary for a man, horse, ox,or cart to spend a night away from home, one credit will be granted. 20. The supervisor for community duties receives the same credit for his person as does everyone else charged with community duties even if the supervisor holds an office that excludes him from obligatory duties, whether it be for a journey within or outside the District. Thirteen and a half credits per day will be granted for such travel during harvest time, and nine credits outside of harvest time. 21. To guard prisoners by day or by night, a watchman receives six credits for performing his duties indoors and twelve credits for performing his duties outdoors. 22. A watchman from another village will be granted half of the general credits set out in No. 15, above, but none for the return journey. 23. When recruits or prisoners being transported through the settlement stay overnight, the fullholder receives three credits for [housing] each man. Food, [and] fodder for horses or oxen as well as fuel for illumination will be assessed and the applicable credits granted. The provision of salt and brewed beverages will not generate credits. 24. Forty credits will be granted for killing a wolf, fifty credits for a female wolf, whether young or old. Five credits are granted for killing a hydrophobic dog, ten if he is buried immediately. 25. Community credits are also given when runaway livestock [are] searched for outside of the District with special permission from the District Office. They are set according to the times of the year listed in No. 8, above. No community credits are given for such an undertaking within the District, because it is done by turns from within the village from which the livestock [have] run away or for village credits.

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26. If a team is required to wait in a village for one person or load, the man receives two and a quarter credits during harvest time and two credits outside of harvest time. One horse or one cart receives one credit for eight hours. 27. If a team waits in another village, the man gets four and a half credits a day during harvest time and three credits outside of harvest time, while one horse or cart receives one credit. 28. If a team is required to stay in another village overnight [while waiting for an object], one credit is paid for each object. When only one person goes along on community business, the credits assigned in No. 15, above, are given for the journey and half of these credits apply to the return journey. If someone returns by himself, no credits are given, as mentioned earlier. 29. Everyone who holds an office in the community and is therefore exempt from community duties, receives no credits for his own person during the time of his service. His team is paid a special general credit. 30. When poor people without a horse or cart are ill and require medical help, a team is especially authorized for them at the rate of applicable community credits. 31. At the conclusion of every year the accumulated credits of every fullholder are calculated. Then the total for the whole District is divided among the number of fullholders who have duty obligations.58 The credits each person has earned or is lacking are noted and he is assigned either a positive or a negative balance for the following year. Once this calculation has been done, records regarding credits for each fullholder are destroyed. 32. Fullholders who administer community offices and are exempt from duty obligations, are not taken into account in the above calculations. 33. If someone is elected to a community office during the course of the year and exempted from duty obligations, the community and village credits he could not earn during his time in office are accordingly calculated, and this number is subtracted from the entire quantity before the calculation for all fullholders takes place.

58 Footnote in the original: “In 1839 there were 877 duty-obligated fullholders in fortythree villages who earned a total of 314,099 and one quarter credits, at an average of 357 credits for each fullholder. According to the rules, these were all extinguished.”

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They are credited to him so that such fullholders who administer offices receive the required number of credits, to be erased at the end of the year to ensure that he is not left in debt. 34. The local or village credits are to be calculated annually by each village office in the same manner as is the general or community credit by the District Office.

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522. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 2 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-865/3. Most esteemed Mr. Cornies, You have been most obliging in sending me plans and accounts for construction of ordinary Nogai houses and I will send them on to the Third Department in the Ministry of State Domains for their consideration. I would not have believed that they could be built so cheaply. This will please our Minister. I look forward to seeing these new Nogai villages next spring and am especially interested in seeing how such flat roofs, covered with earth, can keep off the rain. They caused so many problems on my estate that I had tile roofs built everywhere despite the considerable costs. Since there are undoubtedly skilled potters in your villages, it would be important to have them manufacture glazed stove tiles. Since suitable clay can probably be found in your region, skilled potters could sell many tiles and generate much income. [At present], tiles must be brought to this area from Kharkov and they cost more than 100 rubles for the construction of each stove. I remain your respectful C. Steven. 523. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 2 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-865/2.1 Most esteemed Mr. Cornies,

1 Regarding Cornies’ role in collecting environmental data, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 265, 279, 324, 423, 499, 513, 555, 556, 574, 576.

Part One: Correspondence, 1836–1842

I thank you for your reports about higher water levels in wells of several villages of your settlement, and would suggest that you pay further attention to this highly interesting subject that started in 1838. Are levels still rising or falling and to what degree has this phenomenon been observed in the villages west of the Molochnaia River? You might also make inquiries about the Mariupol colonies. As far as I know, rising water levels have been observed neither in Mariupol [nor in] Taganrog. Water levels in the Molochnaia Estuary, however, must also have risen because the flow of water from farther [up the Molochnaia River] has increased. This would be especially important to know if mills are to be established in the area. The weather continues to be warm, with some frost, and yesterday we had a little rain. Everybody complains about the continuing drought, especially on the Crimean steppes where more winter than summer grain is grown. I remain, with esteem, your respectful C. Steven. 524. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 7 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/2v. Governor Muromtsev, Yr. Excellency, In notifying Yr. Excellency that the 5000 rubles mailed to me on 23 December 1841 were received in good order, I enclose a signed receipt for your accounts. I can also report that your girl Thauarea, whom you sent to my estate of Iushanle in November 1841 to learn dairy procedures, has arrived safely and well. She is learning to adapt to circumstances. As for running my establishment, I can say little because she has been here only for a short time. She is learning to adjust to our ways and I think she will realize Yr. Excellency’s desired purpose. I have ordered the construction of your wagon, with accessories, and hope it can be delivered to you in Simferopol in spring, along with the trees you ordered. With the appropriate esteem, I remain Yr. Excellency’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 525. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 7 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/3v.2 Baron v. Rosen,

2 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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On 4 January I dispatched the Nogai, Ali Bendibulatov, to pay the boys for work they had done in cultivating potatoes. I also encouraged Elders and peasants in these communities to expand their potato fields. I specifically sent along with Ali instructions for procedures to be used in this endeavour and told him to read and explain these to the Elders and peasants once the apprentices had been paid. I consider it my duty to inform Yr. Honour in this regard to ensure that future regulations about potato cultivation are consistent with it. I have still failed to find willing and capable Mennonites to supervise the cultivation of potatoes in your local area this year, but will do what I can and report any progress at the earliest moment. The village of Burkut has reached a community decision to turn over a desiatina of land to Menglitalip Tenbaiev, a Nogai from Akkerman, for the planting of mulberry trees. I would ask that this decision be confirmed quickly once it has been reported to the Bureau of State Domains in order that a good man might be able to do his plantings when spring arrives. The Kisilding Oglu village community is unrelenting in its requests that I seek to have their land surveyed and marked off before the arrival of spring. I think it would be better for these Nogais if the division of land into plough, pasture, and hayfields were done not by a surveyor but by a Mennonite who, as an agriculturalist, understands the best divisions for village inhabitants. Surveyors are often careless in divisions of smaller parcels of land, caring little as to whether one piece is a few hundred fathoms larger or smaller than another. As a result miserable disputes can often result. Johann Cornies. 526. Johann Cornies to District Office. 13 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/5v. District Office in Halbstadt, This is in response to the notice the esteemed District Office sent to me about a document signed by Martin Kroeker, Margenau inhabitant, in which he promised to make a partial payment of one hundred silver rubles on his debt to me by 1 January 1842. Since he has not yet appeared, I again request that the esteemed District Office prevail upon Kroeker to repay me the sum of money he promised, by 1 January, without fail. Please report the results of this investigation to me. Johann Cornies. 449

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527. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 13 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-865/4. Dear Mr. Cornies, I have now seen a sample of the silk Shishko sent to be sold in this area. It is fine enough but not of a pleasing colour. I think the water is not being changed often enough. It will be hard to sell this silk because it can be sold here only if it is quite thick, at thirty to forty threads. Could a small silk factory for your area be established in Halbstadt, sericulture would then soon blossom. Since the silk you had stored in Moscow is still unsold, I will await better times. I have commissioned an acquaintance in Taganrog District to buy two or three pails of sweet wine and have it sent to a merchant in Berdiansk for the Molochnaia Mennonites, with instructions to give it to you. Please send me the address of the Mennonite firm in Berdiansk and kindly inform them that the wine should be passed on to you. The drought is regrettably continuing. While no snow has yet fallen and there is little of it on the steppes, we often have strong northeast winds that will likely damage the grain. Prices here are what they were in fall, with no noticeable change. Spanish wool is as cheap as it was before. Respectfully, C. Steven. Received 21 January 1842. Mr. Wiebe, Berdiansk commissioned 22 January. 528. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 15 January 1842. SAOR 89-2-802/5v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, A licensed apothecary’s shop has existed in the village Molochnaia in the Molochnaia German colonist district since last year. Its owner buys his medicines in Kharkov, but complains that they are so expensive that he can hardly continue his business. He has asked me whether I might have connections in Moscow or other large cities through whom he could obtain a list of current prices for medications from the best respectable apothecaries. I would therefore ask you, esteemed friend, whether you might kindly obtain current price lists from a few dependable apothecaries or dealers in medicines for me. I would be much obliged. With the greatest thanks, Yr. faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies.

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529. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. SAOR 89-1-802/6v. 15 January 1842.3 To the Director etc., Baron v. Rosen, If Yr. Honour does not consider the price for the overall supervision of potato cultivation for the Mennonite Huebert to be too high, I would humbly ask that you agree to reward Teodor Lamchenko and Kisilding Oglu Kuatale Alahov, state peasants from Novogrigorievka who were hired with Huebert, accordingly. Please send me a special directive for each of them in January, if possible. I could then arrange necessary transportation in matters relating to the cultivation of potatoes. Johann Cornies. 530. Johann Cornies to Fedor v. Rosen. 17 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/7. Baron v. Rosen, Yr. Honour knows me well enough not to be surprised at the peculiar notions regarding the advancement of the general well-being that can be found within the Molokan community of Novovasilievka. Yr. Honour may recall that when you visited them, the Molokans expressed a desire to have a school, but this zeal soon waned after your departure. I have tried to revive this matter among intelligent members of the community, but have failed. The many opponents of the idea have frightened off the few more positive-thinking individuals with the most peculiar notions. In hope, convinced that every beginning is difficult, and knowing that opposition must be overcome when anything worthwhile is to be done, I have calmly distanced myself from these naysayers, knowing that malicious persons often oppose positive work that is against their will. Five days ago, the Elder, the secretary, and another few Molokans told me that they had been sent by their community to discuss the organization of a school. When they saw my scepticism about the honesty of their declaration, they promised formally, with a handshake, that in four days the community would send me an expression of their

3

Ibid.

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wish in a formally submitted written community decision. This they have now done and I am pleased to have the honour of sending Yr. Honour the enclosed community decision from the village community of Novovasilievka. I flatter myself in the hope that you will take this matter under advisement and make a quick and positive decision. The Molokans could then arrange to have a building from the Doukhobors transferred to Novovasilievka in good time. Since you know how much the Molokans, even more than other peasants, need a good, intelligent, and morally sound teacher, kindly intercede on their behalf in this matter. I have now learned who influenced the Molokans to make this decision. It is a person whose intentions and inclinations to promote human happiness are far from positive, the dismissed secretary, Anani Stoialov, whose conscience drove him to visit me and observe my attitude towards him. Except for some advice I gave him about his own establishment, he made no other request and seemed to be contented when he left. When he got back to Novovasilievka, he informed the community that I had received him in a friendly way. He talked to them at length about schooling and expressed the view that he could persuade his companions in this regard. This proved to be the crucial force that moved the community to sign the declaration. It did not want to have Stoialov’s party gain the honour and glory for this initiative. Johann Cornies. 531. Johann Cornies to unidentified. 17 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/9. Treasured friend, It is high time for me to send you the seeds for Chinese oil radish. Were I to die you would still be without the seeds that I am convinced would thrive in your region and be of use to you. At first I was inclined to forget the whole matter, but then I remembered that it is of consequence that I keep my word. I hope that God has allowed you to return to your home in the [village of] Schottland, safely, in good health and in good cheer.4 With this

4

This letter was probably sent to an acquaintance in Karass in the North Caucasus. Founded by Scottish missionaries, it was known as “the Scottish Colony” from its foundation in 1806 until 1835.

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letter, you will receive two funt of Chinese oil radish (called Raphanus Satius Chenentus Olei Ferus), which you should distribute for sowing among your citizens as you wish. The seed should be sown thinly on deeply ploughed soil, not more than three garnitz per desiatina. Do not wait with harvesting until all the pods are ripe, since they ripen unevenly and should be harvested when most of them are ready. The oil radish should be mowed with a scythe or a sickle, bound immediately, and set up on its short ends or dried in swaths. After it has dried well on the field, it should be brought in with the morning or evening dew. Bringing it in in bright sunshine and dry weather will cause the pods to break off and involve great loss. The plants should then be well dried at home and threshed in the usual way. I think this short description will enable you to adapt the oil radish to your region. Your weather will determine what happens next. Please greet the gentlemen Rochkii and Vatersohn and their dear families. I commend myself to you and your travelling companions as your honest friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 532. 89-1-891: An undertaking of obligations of a Mennonite in the Molochnaia District who wishes to assume responsibility for a hearthsite and wants to build a cottager house during 1842. January 19, 1842. By building a cottager house on the cottager plot No. 12 in Lichtenau village, I hereby obligate myself in writing to the Society for the advancement and dissemination of plantings in this district, in addition to fulfilling all regulations and conditions applicable to a new construction, to puntually fulfil all rules, orders, and regulations prescribed on November 25th, 1831, for the establishment, dissemination, and cultivation of orchards. To the degree possible, I will continue these plantings yearly until the entire area designated for orchard cultivation on the cottager plot I have assumed responsibility for has been planted according to regulations and the trees are established and growing well. Moreover, in accordance with the District Office’s directive No. 3318, dated November 29, 1839, I undertake to erect an orderly fence around the front garden and along the street during the first year of my settlement. I certify this with my own hand and signature on January 19, 1842. Cornelius Janz from Lichtenau, No signature

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533. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 22 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/13. Governor Muromtsev, Yr. Excellency, I received the remainder of the three thousand rubles from Mr. Vashilev in good order, and have the honour of returning Yr. Excellency’s signed pledge. At the moment, I cannot yet determine how many white acacias I will be able to ship to you, but I will try to carry out your wishes as nearly as I can. With exceptional esteem, I remain Yr. Excellency’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 534. Johann Cornies to Ohrloff Village Office. 22 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/13v. Notice to the Ohrloff Village Office, Since I was acting as his guarantor, I have been paying all fees and taxes for which Johann Fast, now resident in Berdiansk, was liable. Abraham Wiebe in Rudnerweide, now Fast’s employer, has taken over further payment of all Crown and community dues on his behalf in the Rudnerweide Village Office. The Ohrloff Village Office is requested to ask the District Office to transfer Fast to the Rudnerweide Village Office and to have this completed as soon as possible. 535. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 22 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/11. State Counsellor v. Steven, Upon receiving your most valued letter, I immediately wrote to the Molochnaia Mennonite trading firm in Berdiansk requesting that once it receives the small barrel of wine it should forward it to me as soon as possible. The address is: Merchant Abraham Wiebe in Berdiansk. The weather is dry and warm and has melted the little snow that fell eight days ago. Rye is already suffering from a strong northeast wind that has torn away the soil and with it the rye. At the moment the sky is covered with dark clouds, the wind is blowing from the northwest, and the thermometer is at the freezing point. Perhaps we will get some rain or snow. Mr. Karya Ivanovich Keppen visited me yesterday.5 I found this most satisfying and am greatly pleased to have made his acquaintance. He

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sends his friendly greetings. He came from Berdiansk and was on his way to Odessa. With the most excellent esteem, I endeavour to remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 536. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 22 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/11v.6 Baron v. Rosen, I have the pleasure to submit to Yr. Honour the accompanying draft plan and cost estimates for the building of a model mosque in the model village of Akkerman. The necessary formalities from the Imam and the district Cali are in a separate envelope to be sent to the spiritual administration. Convinced that Yr. Honour will do your utmost in this matter, I remain with esteem Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. Memorandum: With the appointment of Bultruk as Elder, the Akkerman inhabitants have lost their own Elder. Munsale, the new appointee, cannot possibly lead and regulate the settlement because he lives in Bauerdak, which is quite far from Akkerman, and lacks any knowledge of this settlement. Munsale has asked for advice on how he might rid himself of the obligation to guide Akkerman in its concerns, since he does not understand them. I would therefore suggest to Yr. Honour that a Nogai from Akkerman be deemed suitable for this position, specifically the householder Begitir Tokutliev, who in my opinion could be more suited for Akkerman than others. Johann Cornies. 537. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 22 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/12v.7 Director, etc. Baron v. Rosen, According to directive No. 761 of 18 December 1841, the Zassedatel, Ali Berdibulatov, distributed 291 rubles, forty-two and six seventh

5 6

Karya Ivanovich Keppen was Petr Keppen’s brother. Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, n12 and docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610. 7 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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kopeks to the apprentices who had worked in developing potato cultivation in Melitopol Uezd last year, each according to the amount he was to receive. Payment was made and receipts recorded in the book of running accounts, which I have the honour of returning to Yr. Honour. Johann Cornies. 538. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 23 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/14. State Counsellor von Keppen in St. Petersburg, To begin my letter, I must immediately report that your brother Karya Ivanovich surprised me pleasantly when he made his appearance in my home in Ohrloff on his way from Berdiansk. I was gratified to make your amiable brother’s acquaintance. I value his intellect and his open and decent frankness. He travelled through on his way to Odessa and asked me to send you his greetings. I received your pleasing letter of 20 December 1841, together with twenty off-prints. How could I reproach you, Mr. State Counsellor, for printing and publishing an extract from my letter. On the contrary, I thank you heartily, and take great pleasure in knowing that you have found something of interest in my letter that might be generally useful. Mr. Blueher has not yet informed me whether he has received the chest with the barometer. Your respected brother told me that he had asked among the merchants in Berdiansk about the wheat Mennonites had delivered there for sale during the past year. He thought that this had come to about 30,000 chetvert. I found it difficult to believe these numbers and think I have discovered the mistake. Wheat from the Molochnaia [German] colonists must have been counted in with the Mennonite wheat as a single sum. Additionally several Mennonites purchased, at their own risk, considerable quantities of wheat from Russians and Nogais to sell in Berdiansk. The winter weather is mild and the Nogais send their cattle out to pasture daily. We had only a light snowfall two weeks ago and it has now melted. The soil is very dry and northeast winds have blown the soil off of the worked fields to a depth of more than a vershok. Winter crops have already suffered seriously. In several spots there is no hope of a harvest. I commend myself to your friendly remembrance during the coming year. Please accept my complete respect. I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies.

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539. Johann Cornies to Elsingk. 24 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/15v. Mr. Elsingk in Taganrog, Despite recent efforts, it has been necessary to delay sending you the Harmala seed that I have received from Mr. v. Steven. The traffic from here to Taganrog is too insignificant to provide cheap transport, and the quantity of seed is too small to freight a whole cart. Carters, especially the Nogais, estimate their freight by the cartload and it does not matter as to whether they load fifty to sixty puds, or twenty. I have therefore had to agree to the usual price of 35 rubles for this messenger, Tulesh Luinov, a Nogai from Second Burkut in our local district. According to a statement from State Counsellor v. Steven, you will receive the Harmala seed in five sacks weighing thirty-four puds, thirty-two funt in total, with the humble request that you pay the Nogai Tulesch Luinov the complete freight charges of thirty-five rubles since he has received no advance payment. 540. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 25 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/16.8 Esteemed Baron, To my astonishment and consternation, I read the contents of the enclosed letter that I received from our local District Chief. According to the letter, I committed a grave error by sending Ali around this district with the money received from Yr. Honour and with the runningaccounts book to pay the apprentices involved in the cultivation of potatoes. I did not make this error knowingly nor to my own advantage, but I was of the opinion that your order No. 166 of 31 March 1841 authorized me to do so in matters related to the cultivation of potatoes. It seemed to me that I was allowed to obtain the necessary teams from the Elders, especially because I knew that, according to directive No. 154 of 28 March 1841, a copy of the above-mentioned directive and an order from the former District Chief Kolosov on this matter is available in every volost. I had not previously found it necessary to make use of a team of horses obtained from the peasants. The only exception was

8 Ibid. Regarding the dispute with local administrators described here, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 540, 549.

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this one time when I sent Ali, whom I gave not only an order to obtain the team, but also Yr. Honour’s communication No. 759 of 10 December 1841 that authorized me to read it to the peasants in order that they might be encouraged to cultivate potatoes. As I desired, the peasants were encouraged, judging by the great stirring and eagerness everywhere that shows a willingness to plant potatoes. Presumably the District Chief also saw all of these papers when Ali travelled through Orehkov. Since I had told him to explain the purpose of his journey to the District Chief, I was of the opinion that the District Chief would recognize this as being appropriate to the purpose, and that he might also encourage the peasants to cultivate potatoes, which would enable us to proceed together with them. However, the District Chief misunderstood my friendly intentions. Regretably I have to admit that all my efforts were fruitless and that the advantages that might have resulted for the peasants by accepting the advice I was willing to give them on how to advance their agricultural economy, are disappearing. I have worked in this direction for more than thirty years and made special efforts during the last six years when it seemed to me that many peasants were beginning to follow my advice. When I also generously received the approval of our humane government, I was willing to sacrifice most of the time working on this matter that I would otherwise have devoted to the wellbeing of my own community and family. To my great pleasure I saw myself surrounded daily by peasants of all of the nations who live here who requested that I teach and advise them on ways of improving their agriculture. Now, however, because of the insulting words used by the District Chief in his letter, I find it necessary to withdraw from this work completely. It gives me great pain to trouble Yr. Honour’s noble intentions with this matter, but in order to retain my honour and my respect as an honest man I am compelled to turn directly to you, esteemed Baron. Involving myself in an exchange of letters with the District Chief would lead to nothing and waste time that I so badly need for more useful matters. The circumstances described above will convince you of my innocence and I trust you will find my decision as sensible as it is reasonable. Under present circumstances I do not dare to undertake anything that might provoke the District Chief’s jealousy even more. Let your noble heart, Yr. Excellency, decide this matter. I humbly ask you to reply as soon as possible.

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Be assured that I treasure your kindness and will strive to be Yr. Honour’s most respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 541. Agricultural Society to Guardianship Committee. Undated draft [Probably 27 January 1842]. SAOR 89-1-852/3.9 In a meeting of the Society with Mr. Pelekh, Inspector of Settlements in the Second District, we considered whether to confirm in office as District Chairman the candidate, David Friesen from the village of Halbstadt, who received the largest number of votes. He was to be confirmed in office instead of Peter Toews, Mennonite of Tiege, for whom the administration of this office would be too difficult at his advanced age, and instead of the candidate with the next highest number of votes, the Mennonite Jacob Penner, because his registration [of domicile] has not yet been changed from Khortitsa to the Molochnaia District. It was also decided that [Friesen] is still too young to occupy this office. He was only elected as village mayor at the beginning of this year and should first prove himself in that office, although this alone would not establish his suitability. The Society thinks that Friesen should not remain in the District Chairman’s office until he has first been tested. Meanwhile the senior District Deputy Chairman, Abram Toews, should take office as District Chairman until this matter is further considered and a submission made by the Society concerning the present District Chairman, Johann Regier, who is ill. Johann Neufeld, Mennonite from Halbstadt village and candidate for the office of District Deputy, should replace Toews. He was village mayor for several years and his efforts to meet the expectations of the authorities were carried out well. With respect to village mayors, namely those in Grossweide, Liebenau, Sparrau, and Landskrone villages: In Grossweide the majority of votes went to Abram Klassen. As a result of his frequent illness his fullholding is in bad condition. Because he is more capable, the Society thinks it better to assign Abram Braun, the following candidate, to this office.

9

Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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In Liebenau, Jacob Neufeld received the majority of votes, but his fullholding can hardly serve as an example. Since Franz Klassen, on the other hand, has made considerable progress in improving field cultivation during his tenure as [village] mayor, the Society concludes that he be confirmed in office for a further term. The majority of votes in Sparrau went to David Woelke. His fullholding, however, is in such a bad condition that it can hardly serve as an example as required by S.9 of our Instruction. The Society therefore thinks it best if the previous mayor, Claas Nickel, a model householder, be confirmed in office for a further term. Although Thomas Friesen received the majority of votes in Landskrone he has not yet got his fullholding in proper order. Since the mayor of a new village is doubly obligated to ensure order and punctuality in its affairs, the Society recommends that the Mennonite Jacob Fast be reconfirmed for a further term because he has proven himself qualified to fill this office. Hereby submitted by the [Agricultural] Society to the Guardianship Committee for its examination. 542. Guardianship Committee to Khariton T. Pelekh. 27 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-851/6.10 To Inspector of Molochnaia settlements, Pelekh, After the Guardianship Committee had scrutinized your report No. 31 of 8 January and the enclosed opinion of the Molochnaia Mennonite Society for the Advancement of Agriculture and Trades, we inform you that we have thoroughly considered this matter. We do not consider David Friesen, Mennonite from Halbstadt, qualified to fill the office of District Chairman. The village mayor elections in Grossweide, Liebenau, Sparrau, and Landskrone cannot be confirmed since they do not meet the requirements of paragraph 530 of volume twelve of the legal code. We would ask you to decide that a new election for District Chairman be held as well as new elections for mayor in the above-mentioned five villages. In the meantime you should charge those who have hitherto administered these offices to continue on as before. As agreed with the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture, further results must be submitted to this Committee for confirmation.

10 Ibid.

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543. From congregation members Johann Cornies, Gerhard Enns, and Jacob Martens to Bernhard Fast. Undated [Probably 28 January 1842]. SAOR 89-1-845/1.11 To the esteemed Church Elder Bernhard Fast in Halbstadt, With grieving hearts we, as faithful members of the Ohrloff church community congregation, submit to you, esteemed Elder, our distress and sorrow, and wish to declare the following: It is well known that disturbances and disobedience against directives from our authorities have taken place almost annually and have arisen from the Lichtenau congregation each time. This congregation, as well as the Rudnerweide, Gnadenfeld, and Alexanderwohl congregations, are again issuing declarations to prompt a majority of congregational members to express their displeasure with and disobedience against state directives. In so doing they demonstrate unfaithfulness to our basic belief that they owe obedience to the authorities. This troubles our hearts doubly because the preachers [“church teachers”] in these congregations are either too weak to admonish their members to obedience and to maintain peace according to our beliefs and duties or because they have themselves taken positions within their congregations that must provoke dissatisfaction with and provoke disobedience against our legal authorities. This disturbs the country’s welfare and the community’s success, turns God’s blessings away from us, keeps the land from producing its fruits, and causes our livestock to die of hunger. Moved by this foreboding and the sorrow in our hearts, we appeal to you, esteemed Elder, and urge upon you our unanimous recommendations: 1. We declare and give our holy assurance that, according to our voluntarily given solemn confession of faith, we not only love our authorities, treasure them highly, and strive to follow their directives punctually, but pray for them, that God might keep them and arm them with wisdom and understanding. This would enable us to stand under the authorities’ protection and leadership, lead us to peaceful and quiet lives lived in piety and honesty, and demonstrate through our work and words that they have not wasted their efforts on those who are unworthy of this favour. We would even more fervently seek to show

11 Ibid.

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that we are good subjects deserving of their benevolence, worthiness, and faith, who are disturbed by the unrest and confusion that periodically upsets the peace of our community. We do not seek to join with those who endanger the well-being of our land by rebelling against our authorities or to be considered as participants in matters that deserve punishment by the government. 2. We consider it important, esteemed Elder, that with God’s support and for the salvation of our congregation, you might continue in your duty of teaching, admonishing, and punishing without being under the influence of teachers in other congregations and that you withdraw from their useless preachers’ conferences. Experience has taught us that most of these conferences have had a damaging effect on the minds of many members in the congregations. 3. Based upon the truth, we cannot pledge our support for the conclusions reached at the Elder’s conference held most recently in Margenau. Those conclusions seek to obligate us to report to the church teachers [preachers] those members from other congregations who are guilty of immoral behaviour. We fear, with reason, that such reports by members of other congregations will not reduce the disorder but cause it to increase and result in feelings of enmity and revenge. 4. As we now know, the above-mentioned congregations are beginning to unite (we do not know for what purpose). We however declare that we are already united with all those who follow the same teachings and the same beliefs as we do, and do not wish to unite for any other purpose. 5. Since we do not wish to be accused of not acting openly, we ask you to inform the teachers [preachers] of other congregations about these, our declarations. 544. Agricultural Society to Guardianship Committee. Undated [After 27 January 1842]. SAOR 89-1-852/12.12 Translation for the Committee, In today’s meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture and Trades, it heard from Inspector for the Colonies Pelekh about decision No. 408 of 27 January 1842 of the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia. We have learned that a new election for District Chairman and for various [village] mayors should

12 Ibid.

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proceed and that it again wished to hear presentations from this Society in regard to this decision by the Committee. In taking into consideration the steps that are needed to hold a new election, the Society recommends that, because of the District’s large size, this take place in May. Moreover, the Mennonite Penner, who was elected as District Chairman, is a qualified person but cannot be confirmed simply because his registration has not yet been changed from the Khortitsa District [to the Molochnaia District]. We assume that this will happen this year. We fear that, in the meantime, the community might again elect someone to this position who is unqualified. Consequently, the Society would submit a proposal that the present senior District Deputy Chairman, Abram Toews, be delegated to carry on in the chairman’s office since he has won the confidence of the community in general through his disciplined actions. The Mennonite Penner, in the meanwhile, could stand in for Toews until his registration has been changed and the Minister of State Domains is able to confirm him in office. According to the law, this will undoubtedly happen by next September, perhaps even earlier. He could then assume his functions as District Chairman. As for the qualifications of the Mennonite Penner, the Guardianship Committee can be assured that they are fully appropriate to the responsibilities of the office entrusted to him by the community, according to the Directive and the laws. This has been demonstrated in his tenure as Khortitsa District Chairman and as chairman of the [Khortitsa] Society for the Dissemination of Plantings. In the meantime, Johann Neufeld, Mennonite from Halbstadt Village, who received a majority of votes in the community, could be confirmed in office as interim Deputy to replace District Deputy Abram Toews. The village mayors in Grossweide, Liebenau, Sparrau, and Landskrone were also discussed. Their zeal demonstrated in promptly fulfilling their obligations, according to investigation No. 314 of 23 January 1843 [sic] ordered by the former Ekaterinoslav Bureau for Foreign Settlers was noted. This investigation was conducted jointly with the District Office in agreement with village communities. Not knowing what kind of persons would emerge in a projected new election, these persons should remain in their offices. The Guardianship Committee is therefore requested to confirm the above-mentioned mayors in their functions for another two years and to hand down a directive about this decision to the Society and to Inspector Pelekh.

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545. Johann Cornies to District Office. 31 January 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/19. District Office in Halbstadt, You are hereby respectfully informed that Martin Kroeker, inhabitant of Margenau village, appeared today to repay the one hundred silver rubles he owed until 1 January 1842, according to the promissory note signed by him. 546. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 2 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/19. Mr. Fadeev, Yr. Excellency, I received Yr. Excellency’s most honoured communication of 23 December on 23 January 1842. Its contents pleased me very much because they continue to give me comfort and encouragement, just as you did when I was under your immediate direction. This confirms that your positive actions and intentions arise out of your kindness and noble thoughts. With this conviction, permit me to submit a matter to Yr. Excellency that has been close to my heart for eight years. It concerns the Radishchev Mennonites, whose moral status continues to deteriorate.13 Their farms remain at a very low level of development, partly because of a shortage of land but principally because they live isolated from the fatherly care of the administration and their brethren in faith. They have few examples of good order nearby, and are unable to benefit from the administration’s encouragement to improve their farms and raise their general well-being. As Yr. Excellency knows, this pitiful condition was investigated by the Guardianship Committee. It concluded that, in order to improve their situation, they should be moved to the Melitopol Uezd, where they would be settled on still unoccupied land assigned to foreign settlers under the jurisdiction of the Guardianship Committee. This land is near the Tashchenak ravine close to their brethren in faith. About 4000 desiatinas of land were assigned for this purpose in 1835. It is still unsettled. The Guardianship Committee also found the repeated requests of these Mennonites to be well-founded and graciously used its influence to obtain permission for their resettlement. Regrettably, there is still no resolution of this matter.

13 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and TSUS, vol. 1, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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When His Excellency the Minister [Kiselev] blessed our villages with a journey through this region last summer and visited my home in Ohrloff, he mentioned the Radishchev Mennonites as well and noted that it might perhaps be better off if they remained where they now are in Chernigov guberniia and receive more land there. The Minister intended to commission the Chernigov Civil Governor to do so. At the time it seemed to me that such a step by the Minister would indeed improve matters for these people. Now, however, having examined the condition of these Mennonites more closely, I have come to the conclusion that even with more land it would be difficult for them to improve their situation. They have already fallen so far behind in all of their economic efforts that, if their second and third generations are to attain a higher level of agriculture, the very basis of their culture must be raised. This they could achieve only through appropriate leadership and example. In my opinion this can be done relatively easily by settling them close to the Molochnaia Mennonites. Yr. Excellency is acquainted with the pitiful condition in which the Radishchev Mennonites have lived for years and their low level of development. I am confident that you will help them as you did when you were directing the Ekaterinoslav Bureau for Foreign Settlers and sought to improve their conditions. For this reason I hope and request that Yr. Excellency might use your influence in St. Petersburg to have the Radishchev Mennonites resettled to Tavrida guberniia. I would ask that this decision be made during the current year, 1842, and that the Radishchev Mennonites receive the 4000 desiatinas of land, previously set aside for them in allotment No. 15 on the Tashchenak River, in Melitopol Uezd, Tavrida Guberniia. I trust in Yr. Exellency’s fatherly guardianship and flatter myself that I have not been mistaken in my request. My own sympathies demand that I take up this question with you. I will use what limited strength and achievements I have towards improving the lot of these Mennonites, thus demonstrating how close to my heart I hold the happiness of my fellow man. This is my duty as an honest man. In the pleasant hope of gaining a benevolent hearing, I remain Yr. Excellency’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 547. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 2 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/22. State Counsellor v. Steven, Again I lay claim to Yr. Honour’s kindness and dare to burden you with a request. Many local Mennonites show a desire to take up

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sericulture and have asked me to provide them with silkworms. I doubt that I have enough silkworm eggs on hand and would therefore request enough silkworm eggs to satisfy the demand. I would similarly request enough grafting stems of good fruit, preferably of fruit suitable for marketing and transport. Finally, I inform you that I have been able to send the harmala seed to Mr. Elsingk in Taganrog. This was costly, some thirty-five rubles. I could not do it more cheaply. The weather continues to be dry. We enjoy cheerful spring days with no wind, bright sunshine, and a temperature of ten degrees. However, the soil has dried out a great deal, and in places the hope for a crop of winter grain has been given up. With the most complete esteem and deeply felt thanks, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 548. Undertaking of obligations. 2 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-891/2+. In response to their application for permission to remain permanently in villages in this district, the foreign Mennonites Jacob Klassen and Jacob Stobbe, Prussian subjects living in the Molochnaia Mennonite District, are given the following reply. Klassen and Stobbe have shown themselves notably useful to the local community through their trade as carpenters and can count on being able to maintain themselves in the settlement in this way. The Molochnaia Mennonite community has recognized their good conduct to date and will ask the Imperial Russian government to add them to the census of the Molochnaia Mennonites once they have received the necessary consent from the Royal Prussian government to be released from their status as Prussian subjects. 549. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 5 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/24v.14 Baron v. Rosen, I have temporarily hired the following three Mennonites as general supervisors for potato cultivation in Melitopol area at a cost of 400 R.B.A. per person: 14 Regarding the potato program, see see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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1. Jacob Wiens, Mennonite from Conteniusfeld Village, for the village communities of Orekhov, Chernigovka, Beristova, and Andreevka. 2. Jacob Buerkmann, Mennonite from Tiege village, for the village communities of Shuiut-Dzhuret, Ulkonbeskekle, Iugartwingale, as well as Astrakhanka and Novovasilievka. 3. Peter Ediger, Mennonite from Lindenau village, for the village communities of Bolshoi Tokmak, Mikhailovka, and Novoaleksandrovka. The wages for these Mennonites are reasonable. If Yr. Honour agrees, I would ask that you confirm this sum and kindly provide these men with an open order for horses as soon as possible. In this way I could send them out during the present good weather. This is needed if the peasants who expect to grow potatoes, as I have encouraged them to do, are not to be distracted or lose their enthusiasm for the task at hand. According to complaints that have come my way, the Novoaleksandrovka police commissar is playing havoc among Nogais, investigating matters that are none of his concern and that should be left to the village communities. The Nogais tell me that the district chief and his assistants in Orekhov are so preoccupied that they have little time left to protect them from the police commissar’s oppression. Things seem to be going the way they went during the time of Bakaktarou. Otherwise, everything is quiet.15 550. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 5 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/25v.16 Baron Rosen, I have never doubted for a moment your kindly disposition toward me and the loving confidence you have in me, which your recent communication confirms. Each morning I seek cheerfully to dedicate my energies to becoming useful and at sundown I conscientiously examine whether I have in fact carried out my resolution to improve the happiness of others and to make myself ever more worthy of Yr. gracious trust.

15 Regarding the dispute with local administrators described here, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 540, 549. 16 Regarding the potato program, see see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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The unpleasantness with the district chief angered me less than my sorrow at having this matter cause you pain. However, since Yr. letter confirmed that You had not blamed Mr. Mitzkevich totally, but a third person as well, I take the liberty of explaining the matter to you. For many years Mr. Paul Andreevich Kalenitchenko, who acted first as district secretary, then as assessor (Zassedatel), and now as assistant to the district chief, has through intrigue, cunning, and deceit plundered the inhabitants of the regions around Berdiansk and Nogaisk, enriching himself. He was very displeased with me that potato growing had been introduced. This had been at a time when I had travelled throughout the regions encouraging peasants to do their best in this regard. Because he no longer dared to pursue his old methods, Mr. Kalenitchenko then tried to win my favour by assuring me that he would no longer extort money from the peasants. When he discovered that I had no trust in him he took a different tack. With compliments, compliance, and cringing he sought to gain the complete confidence of the chief, who now undertakes nothing of importance without his advice. As one now hears, Kalenitchenko no longer extorts money from the Nogais to the same degree, but he still continues in his old ways in the villages of Elkordekekile and Vaspmauano. When I sent Ali around in the district to encourage potato cultivation, he met Mr. Kalenitchenko in Ulkonbeskekte. The latter read the papers Ali carried, praised the directions for extended potato cultivation, and came to see me in Ohrloff by the most direct route. Among other things, he told me that when the district chief returned to Orekhov from accompanying the Baron, he expressed great dissatisfaction with me. I noticed the ruse and told him I would talk to the district chief about this matter myself in order that we might reach an agreement and be reconciled. From here, Mr. Kalenitchenko drove to Orekhov where Ali was supposed to arrive in a few days’ time to submit the purpose of his journey to the district chief. Kalenitchenko knew this and since I stood in his way, Kalenitchenko created a stumbling block for me. Yr. Honour can imagine what insinuations he must have made against me to the district chief. I received the offensive letter in question a few days after Kalenitchenko visited me. From all of this, and much else, you can easily see that Mr. Kalenitschnko is a very destructive person for the local region, is hated by all who know him, and that it would be highly desirable if a respectable person were put in his place.

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I would much have preferred to please Yr. noble mind and be the carrier of better news. The guarantee of my frankness is Yr. wise insight into the whirlwinds of our time when people grate up against one another and the true character of matters both good and ill is increasingly brought to light. I venture to submit this matter to you for one reason only and that is to prevent abuses that disturb the peaceful development of the state peasantry and constitute obstacles to their progress and well-being. With the most sincere trust and with genuine esteem, I sign myself as Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 551. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 5 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/23v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I received your valued communication of 9 January, together with the bill of sale for the silk. Thank you for your services. I am also much obliged for your sincere congratulations at the start of a New Year. Winter has brought us no snow and the weather is pleasant. The sheep and other livestock in our area are doing well. The sheep, in particular, promise a wonderful shear. After the annual market in Kharkov, buyers of wool found their way to us and are offering two, three, and even four rubles more for the unsold stored wool than was offered before. In Berdiansk an order was received from Marseilles to buy up to 15,000 puds of washed wool suitable for factory production. On the Berda near Berdiansk, arrangements are already being made for a wool-washing enterprise for this purpose. Otherwise, everything is much as it was before. It is probably not necessary for me to mention that I would gladly put myself in your service if you would like me to buy some 1500 pud wool for you, as you mentioned in your letter. Thank God that my family is again healthy. Because of my many obligations, I am unable to be specific about the timing of my trip much in advance. However, I harbour a great longing to see you and must therefore weigh time and circumstance and then abruptly tear myself away from my home and leave. Otherwise I would never manage a visit. May God keep you and your beloved family and grant you peace and joy, good health and constant well-being. I send all of you my sincere greetings and remain, as you know me, your constantly sympathetic friend and servant, Johann Cornies.

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552. Johann Cornies to Evgeny v. Hahn. 7 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/30.17 State Counsellor Hahn [leading member of the Guardianship Committee], I have not yet had the honour and pleasure of making your acquaintance, Honoured State Counsellor, and therefore beg your pardon for taking the liberty of writing to you. My letter is prompted by a subject that is of the greatest importance to me and to many members of our local community. Through brother David Cornies we have learned that the Guardianship Committee intends to fill the vacant position of District Chairman by conducting a new election. Although such a course of action seems correct and suitable, and in keeping with the Instruction for the Interior Arrangement and Administration of the Settlements, everyone to whom the well-being of the community is not a matter of indifference has heard of this decision with great astonishment. If steps were to be taken to select a new District Chairman, it would remain an open question whether a majority of votes for this position might not go to a person who does not possess the zeal or qualifications needed in a District Chairman. A very able person is required for this office. This is particularly the case as the Society for the Dissemination of Plantings and Advancement of Agriculture and Trades has been assigned the obligation of functioning as the principal means of promoting our well-being and morality. Through its regulations, the Society reaches into every branch of agriculture and even into home and family life. The head of this office must discuss many subjects with the District Chairman and reach conclusions that ensure a united voice that would help to achieve our goals. The promotion of the community’s well-being must be unambiguous. It must be established step by step, with continuity and permanence and without disruption. A District Chairman must be serious, understanding, and loving. He must feel a sense of duty and have the community’s well-being more at heart than even his own. He must feel a sense for order and justice and take pleasure in both.

17 In 1841 Evgeny von Hahn was appointed assistant to General Inzov, the aging Director of the Guardianship Committee. From this point forward he was the de facto chief administrator of the committee. Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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I am sure that Yr. Honour knows that the majority of members of such a large community as that of the Molochnaia Mennonites are little concerned about these good qualities when electing district and village Elders. Instead, they try to elect quiet, pious, and righteous persons to these offices. In such an election, many think little or not at all about the matter at hand and whether such persons have any desire, inclination, or ability to promote everything that is in the best interests of the community, and if they show the requisite prudence and zeal to establish it for succeeding generations. Thus convinced and in response to Guardianship Committee requirements, the Society had the honour to submit its thoroughly considered opinion on this matter on 5 January 1842. It proposes the appointment of District Deputy Abram Toews as Acting Chairman. According to its submission, the Society considers Abram Toews suitable for the office of District Deputy. He has already served in his present position continuously for six years after having been chosen for it by a majority of votes from the community. His abilities and zeal for the well-being of the community are already well-known. In his stead, the candidate Johann Neufeldt, who has served as village mayor for several years to the satisfaction of the community and is known in the whole community as an orderly and just man, might be confirmed in office as Acting District Deputy. Should these persons prove themselves worthy of their offices within a few months, as the Society confidently expects, the latter could then submit a further request to the Guardianship Committee, proposing the formal confirmations of the former as District Chairman and the latter as District Deputy. The community would remain completely calm in regard to this matter, all the more so because it recognizes these persons as good, upright people and has already elected them to positions several times before. For these reasons, I humbly ask and entreat you that, if possible, Yr. Honour arrange to avoid a new election for District Chairman and that matters be allowed to transpire in the manner suggested by the Society. Honoured State Counsellor, please excuse me for causing difficulties in regard to this matter, especially given the uncertainy that presently surrounds the appointment of a District Chairman. In such a situation, one often grasps at the slenderest of hopes and encourages prospects that might clear away any doubts. With the pleasant confidence that Yr. Honour will find my concerns to be well founded and not receive them unkindly, I remain, with the liveliest feelings of esteem, Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies.

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553. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. v. Hahn. 9 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/33v.18 State Counsellor Hahn, I can scarcely express my sincere thanks and feelings of joy at the contents of Yr. Honour’s highly acceptable letter to me of 20 January that I received through my brother. The poverty and sad state in which the Radishchev Mennonites find themselves has been close to my heart for the past eight years. With great sympathy I have pondered ways and means of improving their situation and achieving the same good fortune we ourselves have here, where we are settled and live together in close proximity to one another under the aegis of a humane guardianship. Yr. Honour’s letter expresses what was in my soul and encourages me to submit freely and openly, without hesitation, my considered opinion about the resettlement of the Radishchev Mennonites to the Tavrida guberniia: 1. The resettlement of these Mennonites would be best accomplished if it were done in summer. Preparations could be made here in our villages during the winter for a move that would be made the following spring. With the exception of draft animals, which they will need to move their personal effects, all their livestock should be sold at their present place of residence. To replace these animals, the Radishchev Mennonites could purchase better-quality livestock here more cheaply. This would save them the costs, often considerable, of maintaining their livestock through the winter. At the same time it would save them the trouble of transporting and stabling their animals in winter accommodations. 2. Lodgings for their families would be provided until they had built their own houses. 3. In my opinion, no monetary support would be necessary. However, if they should receive some support, I believe the following would be most appropriate for that purpose, specifically either the permission to sell their present houses or receive a payment from the crown for the estimated value of these houses. Moreover, since all expectations are that water will be found in wells of considerable depth in the newly established village, each person might be given a well already prepared at the crown’s expense. Such a well would cost approximately 200–250 silver rubles. They would eventually have to repay this sum as rent on their land.

18 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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4. To be able to build and furnish their houses and holdings, it would be beneficial if their crops were free of taxes for the first five or six years. Convinced of Yr. Honour’s fatherly guardianship for the well-being of these poor Mennonites, I flatter myself in thinking that I am also challenged to make a contribution to their advancement. I therefore offer my little strength to improve to the utmost the well-being of these Mennonites and to perform the duties incumbent upon an honest man, in order to demonstrate how close to my heart the happiness of my fellow man lies. With the happy hope for a benevolent intercession, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 554. Agricultural Society to Rosenort Village Office. Undated, after 9 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-1005/25. Rosenort, At a [joint] meeting on February 9 of the Society and the District Office it was decided to inform the Rosenort Village Office that the document or contract assigning a cottager plot to Gerhard Dyck, inhabitant of Ohrloff village, must remain in force and cannot be given up. This is especially true given the fact that the village community has itself disposed over the use of the plot until now. Over a period of nineteen years Dyck was never told that he should move onto the plot or give it up for any reason. It cannot therefore now place any obstacles in Dyck’s way to dispose of it as he sees fit. Dyck should earlier have been admonished in regard to the money he legally owes as payment to the village community. Still, the appropriate payment must now be made by Dyck without dispute. The Village Office should urge Dyck in this course of action in order that the matter might now be resolved without delay. 555. Johann Cornies to District Office. 16 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/35v.19 To the well-esteemed Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt,

19 Regarding Cornies’ role in collecting environmental data, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 265, 279, 324, 423, 499, 513, 555, 556, 574, 576.

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In accordance with a commission of 22 January 1842 from the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg to measure the condition of wells in the local district, I am applying to the well-esteemed District Office to allow me the services of the District Office secretary, David Hamm, for five or six days since such information cannot be obtained in writing by means of a directive to village offices. For this purpose it would therefore be necessary for Secretary Hamm to appear in my office in Ohrloff right after the noon hour on Wednesday, 18 February to observe the procedure for measuring wells and then to travel farther. It is an urgent matter whose results are expected in Petersburg. 556. Johann Cornies to Gloekler. 16 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/36v.20 To District Chairman, Mr. Gloekler, in the Molochnaia [German] Colonist District, From corresponding member etc. In accordance with a commission of 22 January 1842 from the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg to measure the exact depth of the wells in your jurisdiction and also the water levels, I herewith turn to you with the request that you promptly carry out such an undertaking, just as it has also been ordered for the Mennonite district. A dependable person should travel to all villages [in the District], since such information cannot be obtained as accurately through a directive addressed to village offices. I request that you have a record of the results prepared according to the enclosed form [not extant]. If possible, send it to me for forwarding to the Academy within ten days. However, since the persistent dry weather and snowless winter in our area and in yours may well have caused the water to sink below the normal level of water in the well, the current water level is not to be accepted as an accurate measurement. For this reason, you must see to it that the interior of the wells be examined precisely. It should be assumed that the water level was at the level at which it actually stood last year. In addition, observations should be made as to whether the water in these wells has risen since 1838 and to what extent. The Academy suggests that three wells be measured in every village, one well at

20 Ibid.

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each end and one in the middle. At the same time, the contents of the soil are to be examined as to whether they are clay, gravel, sand, stone, etc. The numbers of the hearth sites where measurements are made should be listed, so that if further measurements are needed, they can be done in the same well. 557. Johann Cornies to the Radishchev Village Administration. 16 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/38.21 To the Radishchev Village Administration, I have now finally been notified that a decision will follow shortly, perhaps even during the coming summer, giving permission for your community to resettle here on the land provisionally determined for you eight years ago. Specifically, you will be given quarters here in our villages for the winter. Therefore, your community can make preparations for this resettlement. I am pleased and thank God that my efforts for the community’s best advantage have finally been considered by the high ministry. For my part, I will endeavour further to make the resettlement as advantageous as possible for the community. I also hope your community unites in harmony and love to take this step and that no grumbling will take place about one thing or another. God’s blessing is present only where harmony and love reign. The well-being of the community can be grounded and consolidated on this foundation alone. For this reason, I exhort all of you to accept resolutely, and with joy, this decision to permit resettlement to this area that has been handed down, hoping that the resettlement will be of great benefit for you and your children and that you thank God for it. However, if some person among you refuses to agree to the resettlement, which can be expected, the rest of you should not allow yourselves to be misled. Exclude him from your midst as one who is insubordinate and allow him to follow his own wishes and register among the local Russians. I hope that I will soon receive a communication in response to this letter. May you fare well. Johann Cornies.

21 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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558. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 19 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/42v. State Counsellor v. Steven, To begin, I thank Yr. Honour for kindly sending me three funt of silkworm eggs. I will soon reply to your request for prices and spell out the benefits of all agricultural implements once local artisans here have quoted me their lowest prices for all such implements. With constant esteem, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 559. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 19 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/43.22 Yr. Honour, Baron, In obediently responding to Yr. Honour about the enclosed document sent to me about Mr. Andreevskii’s investigation into the the matter of the rotting potatoes in the village community of Aul, I must report that Huebert is not home now. He travelled to the Dneprov District, searching for suitable spots to cultivate potatoes. As soon as he returns, I will not fail to report to you about the incident in Aul. I should also mention that potatoes have rotted in the pits of several village communities because they had not yet attained their full growth and because of the warm winter. With the appropriate esteem, I am honoured to remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 560. Johann Cornies to District Office. 21 February 1842. SAOR 889-1-802/39v. Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, If at all possible, we request that, without delay, you send the Society the required reports regarding Jacob Braun of Ohrloff Village. This would permit him to sign the legally required documents for the purchase of his half-holding today, Saturday, and enable him to move there.

22 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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561. Johann Cornies to Oppenlaender. 25 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/43v. Mr. Oppenlaender, Neuhoffnung, Treasured friend, kindly inform me soon and in detail about whether your congregation is really splitting in two, as it appeared ready to do a year ago, or whether there is now harmony among its members in matters of religion. I have received an inquiry from Petersburg in this matter, asking for a report. May peace and harmony rule in matters of religion, which would benefit you, something that I would much prefer hearing. Still, truth in this matter must not be denied. It is always better to describe one’s own situation as it is, than to pretend that it is what it should be. Please, if you can, inform me soon and in detail about this matter. I send you many greetings and remain, sympathetically, your honest friend, Johann Cornies. P.S. State Counsellor v. Keppen especially asks me to give you his greetings. 562. Johann Cornies to District Office. 26 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/44. District Office in Halbstadt, Martin Kroeker of Margenau village appeared here in response to your notification No. 593 of 1 February. I took into consideration the circumstances cited and decided to extend his loan of 2011 rubles 77 kopeks until January 1843. I hereby notify the District Office accordingly. 563. Agricultural Society to District Office. 28 February 1842. SAOR 89-1-851/1.23 According to information that we have received, District Chairman Johann Regier passed away on Thursday, 26 February. At this date the Guardianship Committee has not yet confirmed another person in this

23 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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office. To ensure that, under present circumstances, all matters continue along their appropriate course, and since purposeful leadership in many [public] affairs is closely connected with those of the Society, the Society thinks that the current District Deputy Chairman, Abram Toews, should be installed in this office as interim chairman. To replace Toews, the candidate closest to him in the community election, Johann Neufeld, Mennonite from Halbstadt village, should be appointed as interim District Deputy, also until a decision regarding this office has been officially made. The final completion of community accounts presumably not yet fully dealt with by the late District Chairman Regier, as well as all other obligations and business matters of the Office, require that the District Office consist of its three legal members and that they have the requisite vigour to carry out their responsibilities. The Society thinks that its primary, essential duty is to urge that this matter, under present circumstances, be dealt with quickly. There must be no confusion when current business matters are presented to the Guardianship Committee. Only then can proper progress take place according to the Instruction and there be no disturbance of any kind. The District Office is requested to report to Inspector of the Colonies Pelekh and to the Guradianship Committee about the assumption of office by the above-mentioned members. The Society should be similarly informed. 564. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 2 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/44v.24 Baron v. Rosen, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication No. 543 of 10 September 1841, I have the honour to report that 300 potato mounders and thirty-five markers are now ready for delivery. In response to your commission I ordered them from local artisans and made agreements to have them delivered by 1 March at a price of eleven rubles for each mounder and three rubles for each marker. Since the master

24 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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artisans demand immediate payment, according to the agreement, I would request that Yr. Honour have the payments for the mounders and markers sent as soon as possible. The total is 975 rubles 43 1/4 kopeks. Johann Cornies. 565. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 5 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/51. State Counsellor Steven, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication, I showed our master artisans your sketch of the wagon and description of how it should be constructed, asking them if they could undertake to build such a wagon by a specific date and deliver it to you in Simferopol by 15 May for the desired price of between 300 and 500 rubles. In response, they report that it is impossible for them to deliver the completed wagon as desired. Their dry wood for constructing wagons has all been used up and seeding time is imminent. These wagon builders work only from September until March, but they obtain dry wood during the summer. In summer they are husbandmen occupied with land cultivation. They could, however, deliver the wagon for the price specified, but no earlier than September or October. [As for the design], they have doubts about the springs. The sketch shows them to be fastened in only one spot, specifically in the middle. For this reason, they would rather build a chaise according to the design. I have kept the sketch and description of the wagon to give to the artisans if it were possible to delay construction of the wagon until autumn. If this is not approved and the return of the sketch and description is desired, I will be sure to return them to Yr. Honour once I have heard from you. I have still not been able to obtain all current prices of field and garden implements used by the Molochnaia Mennonites. Recently, State Counsellor v. Keppen requested detailed notes about the condition of wells, and how the water rises in them in the Molochnaia Mennonite and also [German] colonist and Berdiansk districts. Once it is complete, I will send you this same information. The snow that fell and thawed has somewhat moistened the ground. On 21 February, before the snowfall, the weather was so nice that people began to sow wheat. If the weather continues in this way for a further three or four days seeding here will begin everywhere. Johann Cornies.

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566. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 5 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/46.25 His Honour, Baron Rosen, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication I can now report and send you an explanation about the rotting potatoes in the village community of Aul. The district chief wrote to me on 18 December 1841, No. 5988, that the Elder of the Aul village community had sent a report to the Orekhov District Office that the first variety of crown potatoes in one of the pits was beginning to rot, and he wished to direct attention to the sinking of the soil above the pit. In response, the district chief ordered the opening of the pit and, according to the Elder’s report, approximately one third of the potatoes were found to be rotten. Obviously the rotten potatoes had been removed from the pit and sound ones separated. This was the only way to determine that a third were rotten. Since I had become aware in autumn that potatoes of the first variety were wrongly sold in Orekhov, and that this had also occurred in Aul, I concluded that deceit might be involved, especially when the district chief reported that the first variety of potatoes had begun to rot. I immediately wrote to the district chief, requesting that he order every village administration to examine the potatoes and to take potatoes out of the pits where rot was discovered. In this way they could be sorted and dried. I promptly summoned Huebert, the former supervisor for [potato plantings] in Orekhov district, and asked him to travel to Aul to inspect the potatoes. Were he to find that the potatoes had been stored in excessively warm rooms, which could make them incapable of sprouting, he should take measures in this regard. Huebert left on 22 December, spent the night in Kopani, and arrived in Orekhov [the following day] at 10 a.m. Since the weather was raw and cold and he had not eaten anything in the morning, Huebert drank a glass of brandy and immediately presented the district chief with the papers he had received from me, also asking for a team to go to Aul. Huebert expressed surprise to the district chief and specifically affirmed that the first variety of potatoes had rotted, a fact that the district chief confirmed. When Huebert received the necessary papers from the chief, he went to the inn, where he met the Aul Elder and told him about the

25 Ibid.

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purpose of his travels. The Elder asked Huebert to wait a little so that he might accompany him. Huebert, however, ate his noon meal at the inn and travelled ahead to Aul. When Huebert asked the Elder in Aul about the location of the potatoes, he was directed to the pit and went there immediately with two men (this was at 2 p.m. on 23 December). He found the pit covered lightly with burlap, and asked the apprentices involved with potato cultivation if they had been present when the potatoes were sorted. Since their answer was negative, Huebert ordered them to hand up some out of the pit. One of the men was lowered into the pit and handed up a considerable number of potatoes. None were rotten, but many were beginning to sprout. He was astonished at the size of the potatoes, which seemed to be too small for the first variety, and so he had more potatoes handed up. They were just like the first ones. Since the interior of the pit seemed to be completely dry, it occurred to him that when the potatoes had been removed from the pit, the largest had been separated and sold. It did not occur to him, however, that these potatoes might actually be the second variety of potatoes since he had neglected to note specifically in which pit each variety had been stored and since there are also many grain pits in the area. While Huebert was at the pit examining the potatoes, the Elder arrived. Huebert asked him if he had been personally present at the removal and sorting of the potatoes. Where were the rotten potatoes? The Elder admitted that he had not been present himself, and said that the rotten potatoes had been devoured by pigs wandering around the village. Because of various errors and misunderstandings, Huebert became angry when the Elder challenged him to inspect the potatoes again and told him he would stay to do so if the Elder were to give him a written statement taking full responsibility for the whole loss. Finding no potatoes of the first variety in the pit, Huebert concluded that the Elder had sold the potatoes and was intending to mislead him. In this mistaken opinion, Huebert had the pit closed and went away. When Huebert came to report to me in Ohrloff about the potatoes, he went to my office first and asked to have the district chief’s report translated into German, since he was having doubts about possible errors or misunderstandings. Perhaps the second variety of potatoes had been rotten and not the first. When the original wording proved to be correct and in agreement with the commission I had given him, Huebert no longer doubted that the Elder had sold the potatoes. The Elder’s behaviour in particular led him to this suspicion as did the people in

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Aul who knew nothing about the removal and drying of potatoes from the pit. As to the accusation that Huebert was drunk, he declared that when he went to see the district chief he had only taken one glass of brandy and was not tipsy, much less was he drunk. With his noon meal, he only drank one glass of brandy. He had not arrived in Aul in a drunken condition. When he left Aul, the Elder gave him a glass of brandy. However, Huebert freely admits that he became angry with the Elder because the latter’s answers seemed suspicious. He was firmly convinced that the Elder had sold a part of the best potatoes and especially because the Malenkii Tokmak Elder reinforced this conviction. With the most complete esteem, I have the honour to remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. P.S. Huebert asserts further that there was absolutely no rain at the time he had the potatoes stored in the pit, although there was heavy hoarfrost at night. In the morning, while the potatoes were being stored in the pit, the weather had been damp, misty, and foggy. But this cannot have damaged the potatoes because they had been transported to the pits in sacks about twenty-five steps from the building in which the potatoes had been stored in piles. 567. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 5 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/53.26 Director of the Domains Bureau, Baron v. Rosen, Yr. Honour might kindly agree that if it is intended to introduce potato cultivation successfully among the state peasants in our local areas, this aim must specifically be kept in view. The loss of money expended by the crown to plant a desiatina with potatoes in every village community must be avoided. This money should be recovered from the returns for potato sales in a manner that is effective. I therefore feel compelled to humbly propose that I be given an official in the vicinity to deal with a variety of situations. It is impossible for me, with all my other affairs, to prevent or eliminate all the obstacles and abuses that could appear during the introduction of potato cultivation. For this business, I need someone with whom I can discuss matters and deliberate as we work together towards a common goal.

26 Ibid.

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There is no one more suitable to do this than Mr. Andreevskii, who, to the extent I know him, is a loyal man of integrity who conscientiously fulfils his duty. He is not likely to spoil the peasants and try to mislead them for his contrary purposes. Should Yr. Honour graciously consider my requests and wishes, Mr. Andreevskii could be appointed with a suitable directive from the proper authorities, to assist me in the supervision of potato cultivation, especially for potato sales. This should be done within fourteen days, or three weeks at most. You would be doing me a very great favour by agreeing to this proposal. As more positive developments increasingly become evident among the peasantry, more adversaries will become visible. Whatever is good needs support and encouragement. As a peasant begins to make improvements to his establishment he needs protection from his envious neighbours. Otherwise he will be forced to abandon his goals, however painful for him this may be. Driven to do so by the ridicule and abuse of his neighbours, he will again dawdle along with the large majority of those who wish to do nothing better than move along in their old and slovenly ways. Johann Cornies. 568. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 9 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/58.27 Baron v. Rosen, Yr. Honour will be so kind as to forgive me a large error that crept into my submission No. 14 to you of 2 March. Specifically the hoes were estimated to cost three silver rubles and the markers one. The reason why I allowed myself to be misled in this way was that the agreement called for four silver rubles for the two together. My submission No. 68 of 11 December 1841, however, shows that the hoes actually cost eleven rubles and the markers three. I have now prepared another submission with corrections that I submit to Yr. Honour with a humble plea that my earlier submission be destroyed, if at all possible. If not, I would obediently like to request Yr. gracious advice as to how to rectify my mistake in order that I might soon be in a position to satisfy the artisans according to the agreement. Johann Cornies.

27 Ibid.

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569. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 13 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-762/53. From the Director of the Tavrida State Domains Bureau, State Counsellor Baron Rosen. Regarding the sending of a harness manufactured for the Grigoretii Agricultural School to Orekhov. To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, In my communication No. 602 of 20 October 1841, I asked you to have a harness like those used by Mennonites for field work manufactured for the Grigoretii Agricultural School according to the price you listed for me earlier. At the same time, I requested that as soon as such a harness consisting of two traces, two neck traces, two reins, a tow-rope and a brake was ready, you might pack it properly and send it to the Uezd Chief in Orekhov to have it forwarded to the Grigoretii Agricultural School. At the same time, however, you were to kindly inform me about your outlay for the harness and for the transport charges, so that I could reimburse you without delay and also inform the Grigoretii Agricultural School that the money it remitted had been paid to you. With the last mail, I received a report from the Uezd Chief notifying me that he had been inclined to accept this harness for forwarding but did not take it because he was not paid to do so. Referring to my earlier communication mentioned above, I repeat my request asking you again to have the above-mentioned harness, well packed, sent to the Orekhov Uezd Chief without delay. However, notify me immediately about your outlay so that I can reimburse you after I have received these papers. F.F. Rosen. 570. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. v. Hahn. 16 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/62v. State Counsellor Hahn, In answering Yr. Honour’s esteemed communication of 6 February 1842, I have the honour to respond to Yr. Honour’s invitation to give you my opinion about the settlement of Molochnaia Mennonites in Bessarabia. It would be difficult to find fifty Molochnaia Mennonite families who could be persuaded to serve the useful purpose of settling in Bessarabia as model agriculturalists. All industrious families suitable for this

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purpose are well established here and are living in moderate prosperity. In addition to this, all such good agriculturalists are almost indispensible here to work on our own agricultural improvement and increase the general well-being. Here they are people who serve as models for others. The majority of Molochnaia Mennonite households have not yet reached a well-regulated level of such perfection that one could depend on their maintaining this without encouragement, instruction, and serious support. Most Mennonites manage their agricultural establishments as craftsmen and do not think how they could possibly make their households more profitable or how they might arrange them more effectively. Indeed, they do not have time to think about this. They are good managers and good agriculturalists but, left to themselves, they would not make the advancement they should. I believe that fifty families, settled at a great distance from the mother settlement where they had been accustomed to direct supervision and leadership, would eventually revert to the old ways common in that area, even if they were useful in Bessarabia during the first few years after their resettlement. The grounds for my fear are clearly evident. Only during the past eleven years have people here begun to give some thought to the making of improvements. Earlier, our agricultural economies may have looked a little better than those of other new settlers, but they were still very sad. The Society was founded by the administration to motivate their speedy improvement. Subsequent directives were supported by the Ekaterinoslav Bureau and especially strongly by Mr. Fadeev. He gave guidance appropriate to this purpose. This made it possible for the Society to persist and accomplish good and suitable arrangements in many regards. If the ordinary agriculturalist is left to manage his establishment himself, he will remain what he was, a peasant with a limited view and without proper insight. People of this kind still exist in Prussia and in all of Germany. I am one of these myself, and can therefore, when I make my observations, speak from experience. Yr. Honour might not accept unkindly my explanation. Having examined the matter more thoroughly, I find that the subject about which I have been asked to give an opinion is too important to me to avoid expressing what I fear. I consider it to be my first duty to the state, to my superiors, and to all men that I should be conscientious, faithful and honest. My honesty also extends to this matter. His Excellency, the Minister [Kiselev], found our agricultural establishments and

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arrangements in so positive a condition that he thought they might serve as examples for settlers in other regions of the empire. It is for this reason that he wants to resettle a group of families from our midst [to Bessarabia]. We must be able to realize the government’s expectations in full measure, and demonstrate that the government’s grant to us of such important privileges over other colonists has not been in vain. I feel highly honoured and favoured and will happily dedicate everything I can to fulfilling the Minister’s wishes that a settlement of Molochnaia Mennonites might come into being in Bessarabia, one that will be useful and become the model it was intended to be. However, for the moment, I cannot decide how best to give a basic answer to the question Yr. Honour has asked. Therefore I humbly request that, if feasible, I be permitted to delay my answer until I have had the honour of attending upon Yr. Honour here on the Molochnaia to explain myself orally. Johann Cornies. 571. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 17 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/66.28 General-Inspector, etc., State Counsellor v. Steven, Enclosed, I have the privilege of obediently presenting Yr. Honour with a list of the names of apprentice youths and girls now on my Iushanle estate who were sent to me by the crown to learn practical agriculture. I must note that I sent Yr. Honour notification No. 37 of 29 August 1841, in which I had the honour to list twelve youths and four girls. Subsequently, in response to a request made to the Director of the Tavrida Domains Bureau, Baron v. Rosen of 4 December 1841, I sent the Tatars Evishep Chalit Oglu, from Simferopol district, and Kelpedin Umer Oglu, from Feodosia District, back because they were stupid and unsuited to work on my estate at Iushanle. Iusuf Aliev, Nogai from Schuiut Dzhuret Uezd, who was known to have slipped away at one time, was brought back to me on 31 July 1841 and ran away later for the fourth time. I therefore decided he was not suited to learn practical agriculture, and did not demand his return. Johann Cornies.

28 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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572. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 17 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-762/55.29 From the Director of the Tavrida State Domains Bureau, State Counsellor Baron Rosen. About potato mounders and markers manufactured for Tavrida guberniia. Received March 21, 1841. To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, On 2 March you informed me that the 300 potato mounders and thirty-eight markers that were ordered are now ready. I am writing a second communication to you about paying the artisans for these goods. I would ask that you kindly take all the mounders and markers ordered for Tavrida guberniia to your own estate. After separating out the number needed locally, kindly let me know how many potato mounders and markers remain to be delivered by the set dates. At the same time I will also let you know where and how many of those remaining should be given to persons who apply for them. F.F. Rosen. 573. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 19 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-762/56.30 From the Director of the Tavrida State Domains Bureau, State Counsellor Baron Rosen. Regarding changes in the price of potato ploughs which occurred due to an oversight. Received 24 March 1842. To the Corresponding member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, I have notified the Department about the mistakes found in your estimates regarding the price for potato ploughs. My presentation, made on today’s date, requests that the total for the above-mentioned ploughs might be altered on the basis of the information regarding prices that you have now kindly sent me. F.F. Rosen.

29 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699. 30 Ibid.

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574. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 19 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/67.31 State Counsellor v. Steven, I have the honour to respond to Yr. Honour’s communication of 2 January. I have had all of the wells in the Mennonite villages measured by a person authorized to do so, but only three of the wells in each village in the Molochnaia [German] colonist and in the Berdiansk uezds. I also had the composition of the soil in the wells examined. In the enclosed record, in which six wells are marked for our local Mennonite villages built in two rows, and three in villages with only one row, Yr. Honour can see how deep the wells are, how much water is in them at present, and how much the water has risen since 1838. However, when the measuring was done, many wells were found not to have been lined with wood. Over time they had gradually filled in with soil. Many inhabitants could no longer recollect how deep they had originally been and did not know by how much the water had risen. For example, in Karlsruhe Village, well No. 10 was nine arshins deep when it was first dug. In the meantime the water had risen six arshins, twelve vershok, but at present the water was found to be only two arshins, four vershok deep. It had therefore filled in by four arshins, eight vershok. The situation is much the same with many wells. Almost everyone seems to have noticed that the water has risen closer to the earth’s surface since the year 1838, but no one can state exactly when this began. Now it has stopped rising and has even fallen a little in several wells. Settlers west of the Molochnaia, and also the Mennonites in Khortitsa District, say that the water in the wells has risen there since the year 1838. The Wuertemberger colonists on the Berda are also sure that there has been a greater flow of water in the Berda since 1838 and that springs had opened on their land, where no water had been found previously. It is difficult to know whether the flow of water in the Molochnaia is markedly stronger. However, water mills that previously could not operate during the summer because of insufficient water have been functioning almost all summer since 1838. The estuary has also risen higher and probably this comes from the heavier flow of water from

31 Regarding Cornies’ role in collecting environmental data, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 265, 279, 324, 423, 499, 513, 555, 556, 574, 576.

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upstream. I was not able to obtain any information on this subject from the Mariupol Colonist District. In the western part of our local Mennonite district, seeding time is already half over. In the eastern part it is now only beginning. A steady, twenty-four hour rain has moistened the soil a great deal. Snow several vershok deep is still lying on the ground. This should be very beneficial for the seed. With the most complete esteem and devotion, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 575. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 19 March 1842. SAOR 889-1-802/69. Mr. Steven, In response to Yr. commission, I am honoured to submit a list of all field implements and agricultural tools used here by Mennonites, with prices. Prices of our local field implements vary according to their strength and whether they are built of wood or iron. There are, for example, ploughs that can be bought for seventy to eighty rubles, but they can only be used with light soil. The situation is similar in regard to many of the other implements. In my opinion, implements most suitable for introduction among Russian peasants in all of southern Russia and on the Volga, should need few repairs and not require many complicated manipulations to set them up and put them to use, such as the plough, the harrow, the roller, the potato mounder, the marker, the three-pronged potato hook to lift out potatoes, and the sledge. It is my opinion that all other field and agricultural implements would be of little advantage to these peasants at their present level of development. Indeed, they might not even be able to make use of them. As beneficial as is the threshing machine for the agriculturalist who knows how to use it to advantage and is capable of maintaining it, it would be completely without benefit for someone incapable of making small repairs on it himself and who has not learned how to supply the machine with sufficient work so that it operates efficiently but is not overworked, just like a mill, for example. Similarly, there would be no advantages to the spade in use here without an understanding of the manipulations needed to work with it. Even the raking of hay with the large hay rake drawn by horses must be seen and learned. The rake can only be used advantageously if there is little hay and the swaths are thin. It cannot be used if the swaths are thick.

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The Russian plough is very different from the local one and more like the Tatar plough. It is difficult to use and seldom ploughs neatly. When our local plough and the Russian plough both plough to the same depth, the local one is easier to draw, needing at least two draft animals fewer. It is much more durable than the Russian plough since it causes almost no expenditures when making repairs and eliminates delays during ploughing. Our harrow is also different from the Russian one, has iron prongs, and is exceptionally useful on ploughed pastureland, or where there is clay soil. It chops up the clumps of soil and pulverizes them quickly, making it friable. It would be most worthwhile to introduce the roller among the Russian peasants. It levels the field, pressing the soil together tightly to keep moisture in the soil longer, and prevents easy evaporation. This promotes the more regular sprouting of seeds. The potato mounder and marker are both almost indispensible implements for potato cultivation that is practised to advantage on a larger scale, but marking and mounding must also be observed and learned. The situation is the same with the sledge. The method of application for each implement must become familiar, and the required manipulations must have been learned if they are to be applied usefully and to advantage. Plough Harrow Field hook Roller Three-shared plough Grub-hook Potato mounding plough Marker Three pronged potato hook Potato hook Hook Large horse-drawn rake Drag rake Ordinary rake . Two-tined hay fork Three-tined straw fork Three-tined manure fork Two-tined manure hook Threshing machine

70–102 rubles 11–13 50–65 26–30 26–64 50–80 11 3 1.80 1.50 3–3.50 5.80–6.70 2.20 50 1.50 2.50 2.50 1.50 800–1000 rubles

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Chaff-cutter for horses 200–250 Same with human[power] 80–100 Loader for chaff-cutter 38 Winnowing machine, from 50 to 200 rubles, depending on the sieves attached Ordinary grain winnow 25 Latticed sieve 12.50 Round-holed sieve 12 Garden-weeder with 1 wheel 14.50 Push-weeder 1.50 5-bladed garden cleaner 31 Manure cart 12 Sledge 6 576. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 19 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/72v.32 State Counsellor v. Keppen, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication of 22 January 1842, I commissioned an individual to measure the depths of all wells in all villages and also to investigate how much the water has risen in them since 1838. However, in the enclosed record, I list only six wells in every double-rowed Molochnaia Mennonite village and three in villages consisting of a single-row. The soil records, or the ingredients of the soil, agree with the records about wells that you received in 1837. I could not, however, find the wells measured earlier because they had not been numbered exactly. The depth of the water in the wells was also not measured at that time, only the depth of the well itself. I have now numbered all of the wells, so that if similar measurements should be wanted in future, these can be easily done. Also the water itself was measured and listed precisely in every well. In the Molochnaia and Berdiansk colonist districts, I have had only three wells measured in each village, as listed in the enclosed record. Although all inhabitants observed that the water had risen in their wells, many could not specify how high it had risen or remember how deeply the well had originally been dug. Quite a few wells not lined

32 Ibid.

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with wood have now filled in with earth. For example, well No.10 in Karlsruhe Village was dug nine arshins deep but at present its level has risen six arshins, twelve vershok and there are only two arshins, four vershok water in it. Consequently, the well had gradually filled with four arshins, eight vershok of soil. There are similar examples. With the most complete esteem, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 577. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 19 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/74. To the above, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication of 31 January, I have the honour to report that to the best of my knowledge there is no single village in Melitopol Uezd that is exclusively inhabited by Great Russians except for the Molokan villages. In the villages Timashovka, Akimovka, and Semenovka, they are the majority of the inhabitants. Only a small number of Little Russians [Ukrainians] reside in the village of Timashovka. The situation in the Berdiansk villages is sad in every respect. As evidence of the conditions these settlers currently face, I enclose a letter that abundantly reveals what is happening there. Oppenlaender is alive and well and was sincerely moved when I passed along your greeting to him. The village where he lives is called Neuhoffnung. I asked the Molokans Eftei Levashev and Semen Ignatov from Novospaskoe what motivated their desire to move to the Lenkoran region. They said that there was too little water in Novospaskoe to maintain their establishments. Also, their friends from Salian not far from Lenkoran wrote telling them that it is better there. However, according to what other Molokans tell me, the main reason is their awareness that land here will be divided according to the number of souls, which includes ploughlands and hayfields in particular.33 This will place restrictions on the wealthy with few souls who need a large amount of land for livestock and grain. They also hope that in Georgia they will be

33 The Ministry of State Domains had begun imposing land repartition in state peasant communities in Tavrida. See John R. Staples, Cross-Cultural Encounters on the Ukrainian Steppe: Settling the Molochna Basin, 1783–1861 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003), 144–64.

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freed from military service or will be able to escape it more easily than here. It really would be desirable if the Molokans were either permitted to move away or their removal from here were totally prohibited. They are ruining themselves in their present [ambiguous] position. No one starts anything that could have future value. The Doukhobors, who must move away, actively discourage the Molokans and provoke them into moving as well. Here, the Russians and the Little Russians have different names for elms and for a degenerated variety of elms. I cannot explain this any further. One can make the claim that the elm maintains itself best in most areas here and in almost every variety of soil. However, it is too soon to determine which tree varieties are most suitable for the local climate and thrive best here. Until now, coniferous trees are thriving very well on my estate and in other places in our villages. Conifers even grow luxuriantly in the sand at Alt Nassau. I have now received, undamaged, the barometer with glass tubes that you kindly provided for me. Please accept my honest assurance that I will continue to feel obligated for it and that, with exceptional esteem, I endeavour to be Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 578. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 23 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/78. His Honour, Baron, During the winter, the Nogais in the village of Bodai approached me several times, requesting that their present aul be resettled as an orderly village on their own land, following the example of the Nogai village Kisilding Oglu. They are requesting that I intercede in obtaining permission to found this new village and to have the land for their yards surveyed and divided as soon as spring arrives. A few days ago they sent me their written request, and I am privileged to submit it in the original in Nogai dialect for Yr. Honour’s gracious consideration. With appropriate esteem, I remain etc., Johann Cornies. 579. Johann Cornies to Ministry of State Domains. 25 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/80v. To the Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains, In response to communication No. 140952 of 9 November 1841 from the Third Department, I have the honour to respectfully submit a

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description of the methods used in the Molochnaia Mennonite District to water hay meadows, including a sketch depicting the way the hay meadows beside Ohrloff village are moistened and watered in spring using melted snow. It must be noted that similar methods and means have been, or will be, put into effect by all the other villages in this District where watering is possible or where the meadows can still be adapted for watering. In the Molochnaia Mennonite District, hay meadows cannot be watered by methods as advantageous as the use of canals and ditches artificially created for this purpose. In summer, our steppe streams have insufficient water to make timely watering possible that would permit meadows to be mowed two or three times each summer. Our local manner of watering can take take place only in spring when we use water from the melting snow on the steppe. If the snow melts suddenly, water fills the stream so quickly that both banks are flooded to a width of 200 to 500 fathoms and more. When flooding is uncontrolled, however, considerable areas still remain dry. Some years, melting snow does not swell the rivers so suddenly as to make them overflow their banks. Diagonal earthen dams have been constructed along streams at specific distances. In this way, the water flowing along both sides of the river is backed up until it is almost level with the plains and meadows. Rapid flooding is checked and takes place at a lower level. Muddy soil washed from cultivated fields by the melting snow is reclaimed when deposited on meadows as rich fertilizer. The longer such flooding continues, penetrating and moistening the soil more deeply, the longer this moisture lasts during the summer. The meadow thus produces a greater quantity of healthy fodder. In the past, we were dissuaded from constructing dams across steppe rivers by our fear of the costs and the labour involved. At that time, when the spring was not particularly warm, grass grew badly and sparsely in many places. The amount of hay produced was not worth the effort of mowing involved. In moderately good years, we were fortunate to harvest eighty to one hundred puds of hay per desiatina. However, double that amount was grown in places where meadows were flooded through the damming of melting snow in spring. Starting in 1835, hay could be harvested in places where no hay could previously be made. In the Molochnaia Mennonite District, 1384 desiatinas of hay meadows are watered in the manner described above, using forty-six earthen

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dams built for this purpose. They yield 200 to 250 puds of good, nutritious hay on every desiatina of land. The value of watering has further proven itself by destroying insects, grubs, moles, and mice harmful to the grass. This too favours the vigorous growth of grass. Even after snowless winters, when no flooding from melting snow occurs, the grass still grows better in these areas than in spots where no such watering previously took place or could take place. The expenditure required for the construction of dams is constantly declining and we now obtain soil close to the construction site. To speed construction we loosen the earth with an ordinary plough. Then a sledge harnessed to two draught horses, driven by one man and directed by another, is filled with soil. The soil is then towed to the construction site and dumped. Four to six such sledge loads, each carrying ten, twelve, or more puds of earth, are used to complete one dam. Wooden sluices or pipes, depending on the site of the dam, will have been installed in the dam to permit the effective retention or release of water. The estimated costs for the construction of a dam range from 50 to 150 silver rubles, depending on the length and height of the dam required by its location. The enclosed design [not extant] depicts the watering of hay meadows at the village of Ohrloff. Similar designs are used by other villages, as suitable. Dam A holds back enough water so that it flows over meadows on both sides of the riverbed. However, about 100 fathoms below the dam, this water would return to the riverbed. To prevent this from happening, dam B was constructed to direct the water to meadows closer to the village. Then, because area C slopes steeply towards the riverbed, a dam was constructed to keep the water from returning to the riverbed and flooding the entire village. On the other hand, to prevent damage to gardens and household establishments, dam D was necessary as a protective dam, as was dam E. Without these, the whole meadow area as far as the village could not be flooded completely. It was also thought necessary to flood part of the meadows on the east side of the river. Dam F was constructed for this purpose. It also forced the water towards dam C, in order to flood the entire meadow at a somewhat higher level on the west side of the river. For this purpose, dam G was also needed at the low, flat spot. Johann Cornies.

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580. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 25 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/85. Baron v. Rosen, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication No. 180 of 17 March, I have the honour to report that a total of twenty-eight mounding ploughs and thirty-eight markers were produced for Tavrida guberniia. Two of these mounders and two markers are needed in Dneprov district and eighteen mounders and eighteen markers in Melitopol district, making a total of twenty mounders and twenty markers. It follows that eighteen [sic] mounders and eighteen markers are left for Yr. Honour’s discretionary disposal, since they are not needed here. Johann Cornies. 581. Johann Cornies to Muromtsev. No date. SAOR 89-1-802/86. Governor Muromtsev, Yr. Excellency, Kindly forgive my sending you more white acacias and Lombardy poplars than you wanted, as you report. I had the poplars and acacias dug up for you in response to your first letter and they were ready for transport. I hope that the trees adapt well. They should, provided they are planted as specified and the soil is immediately watered and kept muddy. I have had the Leiterwagen built as perfectly, precisely and strongly as possible. It should be able to bear weights from 150 to 200 puds. Its final price at 295 rubles, 15 kopeks is a total of 25 rubles, 15 kopeks higher than expected. I am convinced that it will perfectly answer to your wishes. I have the honour of humbly submitting the invoice for the trees and the wagon, a sum of 464 rubles, 12 kopeks. I remain, with honesty and esteem, Yr. Excellency’s most humble servant, Johann Cornies. 582. Johann Cornies to Muromtsev. 28 March 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/85v. Bill for His Excellency, Tavrida Civilian Governor and Knight, Muromtsev 1842. For trees, 10 oaks at 4 kopeks (40 kopeks.); 27 birches at 4 kopeks (1.8); 10 white maples at 8 kopeks (80); 698 white acacias at 4 kopeks (27.92); 100 Siberian acacias at 1 kopek (1.00); 135 Italian poplars at 7

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kopeks (9.45); 10 German poplars at 10 kopeks (1.00); 20 service trees at 4 kopeks (80); 20 pines at 3 kopeks (60): [Total] 1030 trees. Advance for carter, Nogai Islan, 13.50, packing 4.80: (18.30) For ladder wagon (Leiterwagen): wood work, 74.85 [rubles]; blacksmith work, 190.80; ladders for wagon, 21.50; painting 8: 295.15 rubles. [Final total] 464.12/12 rubles [sic]. 583. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 1 April 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/87.34 Baron Rosen, The peasants are fully occupied with potato planting in our district, as well as in the Dneprov district. The favourable early spring weather fills us with hope for a good harvest. During this week the peasants who require seed potatoes will receive them from village communities that have a surplus. Up to now, everything is proceeding as desired and should this continue next week all of the potatoes will have been planted. When the planting has been completed, I will respectfully submit detailed information. Johann Cornies. Note: As for my circumstances, the payment can be put off until you, honoured Baron, arrive. 584. Johann Cornies to Jacob Wiebe. 15 April 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/88. To my friend Jacob Wiebe in Pordenau, I received your letter of 11 April regarding your efforts to make yourself useful and your idea that you might best do so by establishing orchards among the Nogais. Although I applaud your intentions, I wonder whether this is the appropriate time when the Nogai land must still be surveyed and divided up. Once the Nogai villages have been laid out in a regular manner many Nogais will likely have been settled in places other than those they presently inhabit. This means that the matter of orchards must await the future.

34 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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Whatever you do in the meantime, try to busy yourself with something useful that, by giving you a good reputation, will increase the chances of concluding an advantageous deal with the government for land, especially if you should eventually end up working among the Nogais. Fare well. As usual, your friend Johann Cornies. 585. Johann Cornies, Gerhard Enns, Jacob Martens to Jacob Warkentin. 27 April 1842. SAOR 89-1-845/41.35 To the esteemed church Elder Jakob Warkentin in Altonau, As poor human beings we are frail and faulty, subject to error and sin. We regret that we have repeatedly and painfully had to recognize this in ourselves. You will have experienced this in your own life as will everyone who acknowledges the misery of sin. As fellow brethren we failed anew when in Halbstadt on 28 January we signed a communication to Elder Bernhard Fast in Halbstadt that is known to you. In it we sinned against many of our brethren, damaging the love that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ commended to his disciples and followers as something to practise and protect, as is our duty. We regret our actions from the bottom of our hearts. Yet since it is impossible to undo what has once been done, we do not hesitate, beloved Elders, with complete honesty, to ask your forgiveness and that of every member of your congregations for the unjust accusations contained in that letter that have offended you. Everyone who honestly examines his life before God, must confess and accept blame for numerous transgressions. When we remember our own acts before our omniscient God, we must also confess that we are not without blame in regard to the dispute among the church teachers. We might of course reasonably excuse ourselves, pointing to the sad dissension among the church teachers that has continued for many

35 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686. A copy of this letter was sent to all Molochnaia Mennonite church Elders on 27 April 1842 – see SAOR 89-1-845/42. In the margin of the second draft, the following note appears: “Despite our honestly intended confession, the Elders did not agree to any peace, but became more vindictive, thinking they could maintain the upper hand. Their blindness defeated them. Could it have been otherwise? Wiebe.”

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years to your pain, ours, and to the pain of all true lovers of mankind. It is our greatest hope that this situation might now be transformed into an enduring peace for the salvation and blessing of our community. In this way, we, who are partly responsible for this situation, might also be partly responsible for its resolution. Still, we do not wish to excuse ourselves on these grounds, but ask that you and your dear congregation forgive us in your hearts, even as we join you in the hope and desire to be forgiven for all our sins before God, our heavenly Father in Christ. We have earnestly resolved that the future might evidence the fact that our request is serious and that we have made this resolution together with the entire church leadership. May our lives and actions be conducted according to the infallible rules of God’s Word and of our confession of faith. May the Lord give us grace and strength to accomplish this. Amen. We hope confidently for a friendly, brotherly granting of this, our request, and remain your esteemed Elders’ truly loving, Johann Cornies, Gerhard Enns, Jacob Martens. 586. Johann Cornies to Khariton T. Pelekh.? May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/92v. To Inspector Pelekh of settlements in the Second District, In reply to your communication No. 295 of 8 May from the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, the Society is pleased to report that, during 1840, various experiments were made to seed fodder plants in the local district to significantly reduce the impact of fodder shortages in the event of a crop failure. These trials were repeated in 1841, as reported to the Guardianship Committee. No final results can yet be reported although the best plant in this regard is lucerne, which the Society is introducing among Mennonites for this purpose. 587. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 13 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/93v. Blueher, In response to your communication of 20 March regarding the purchase of wool for you, I can report that I am now firmly convinced that no wool can be purchased in this region for the price you specify, fifteen rubles per pud. The current price here is nineteen to twenty rubles. Down payments have been made on these latter terms on

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authorizations from Berdiansk and Odessa. Unwashed [wool] is priced at twelve rubles. I regret that I cannot carry out your wishes. Should the situation for you improve and you find yourself willing to pay higher prices, please inform me accordingly by return mail. It may well be the case, however, that by the time I hear from you no more wool will be available here. It might be possible to purchase some wool at the Ekaterinoslav market. Johann Cornies. 588. Johann Cornies to Muromtsev. 13 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/93. Governor Muromtsev, I have done calculations for my own sheep kept by Nogais and can estimate how many puds of well-washed wool I will be able to deliver to Yr. Excellency for the price of 19 rubles per pud. This will probably be about 450 puds, more or less. I will have this wool available for delivery by 10 June or perhaps a few days earlier. I would therefore humbly ask that you authorize someone to receive the wool on my Iushanle estate. Johann Cornies. 589. Johann Cornies to Bernhard Fast. 22 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/95.36 From corresponding member, etc. To the esteemed Church Elder Bernhard Fast in Halbstadt, His Excellency, Deputy Chief Curator and Senior Member of the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in South Russia, State Counsellor and Knight v. Hahn, has asked me to submit a detailed report to His Excellency, using a dispatch rider, should I notice even the slightest expression of discontent with His Excellency’s decrees and decisions among adherents of the deposed Elder Jacob Warkentin in the Molochnaia Mennonite villages and if they should undertake activities that would threaten the peace among Molochnaia Mennonites. I have also been instructed to inform the Colonial Inspector, who has received the requisite orders from the Deputy Chief Curator, to place Warkentin

36 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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under guard without delay and have him held in the nearest uezd city until we can take further action. In keeping with this order from His Excellency, I would ask that you, esteemed Elder, write to the Khortitsa Church Elder Jacob Dyck. Inform him of this matter and warn him that he will be called to account should he permit himself to be influenced by Jacob Warkentin’s supporters, or undertake to travel to this area to deal with church or temporal community matters. Please use a special messenger at my expense. Moreover, I request that you immediately inform me in writing about the exact date on which you wrote to the Khortitsa Church Elder in accordance with the enclosed directive, so that I can report this to His Excellency without delay. 590. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Neufeld. 23 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/96.37 To the Church Teacher, esteemed Heinrich Neufeld in Rosenort, I have been commissioned by His Excellency, the Deputy Chief Curator for Colonists in Southern Russian, to notify him regarding the decision of the church congregation that separated itself from its Elder. Does it intend to create two or three [new] church congregations and choose an Elder for each one of them or to have its members join the congregations of the other church Elders? The congregation is free to take either or both of these actions. Should it, however, choose to make other decisions it must first seek permission to do so, presenting its reasons to the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia. Kindly inform me of your resolution by this coming Saturday, 30 May, in order that I might report this to His Excellency. 591. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 24 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/96v.38 State Counsellor Hahn, Yr. Excellency, Distracted by earlier unrest and the renewed necessity to restore proper order, as well as by my desire to carry on all my previous

37 Ibid. 38 Ibid.

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responsibilities more effectively, I have run into problems in composing the draft directive to the Molochnaia Mennonite community that I promised Yr. Excellency to do. I find it difficult to enter into Yr. Excellency’s ideas so that the document contains exactly what Yr. Excellency wishes and to ensure that it will have the appropriate effect on people. For this reason, I humbly request that you kindly send me a Russian text to help guide me as to your intentions and thoughts. Yr. Excellency’s two orders about Warkentin and Klassen are now circulating in the community. Everything is peaceful. Because of this beneficial humiliation, Warkentin seems to have come to his senses. The better part of his congregation is happy and praises the benevolence of God in removing Warkentin. With respect and renewed industry, I remain Yr. Excellency’s most humble servant, Johann Cornies. 592. Johann Cornies to Bernhard Fast. 25 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/97v.39 From corresp. member, etc. To the esteemed Church Elder Bernhard Fast in Halbstadt, His Excellency, the Acting Chief Guardian for the Colonists in Southern Russia, has told me to report to him once the Molochnaia Mennonite church Elders, as ordered, have carried out instructions received from him during the Halbstadt conference. Specifically, they should let all church communities in Russia know that only foreign Mennonites who have proven themselves as especially useful in Russia will in future, as defined in the laws, be accepted as subjects of the Russian Empire. All foreigners who fail to carry out the government’s purposes are liable to be sent back to Prussia. Such people would include agronomists, artists, good professionals of all types, learned persons, schoolteachers, and others of good moral conduct. They should be hard working, masters of their trade or business, and adept at applying their skills. They should, moreover, have worked at their trade or profession in our villages for at least two years and be able to convince local authorities of their qualifications.

39 A note on the letter says that the same contents were also sent on the same date to Elder Fr[iedrich] Lange, Gnadenfeld, Elder Benj[amin] Ratzalff, Rudnerweide, Elder Pet[er] Wedel, Alexanderwohl.

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Esteemed Elder, please let me know on what date you wrote to Prussia so that I might report this matter to His Excellency. 593. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 25 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/98v.40 State Counsellor v. Hahn, I thought I should officially write to Khortitsa Elder Jacob Dyck through Elder B. Fast with a warning that he not presume to support the adherents of Jacob Warkentin. Were he to do so, he should expect to be called severely to account. Nor should he travel to the Molochnaia area to look after religious matters in place of the deposed Warkentin. Bernhard Fast informed me that he had, without delay, passed on my warning to Dyck. He had also communicated his own instructions regarding what he considered desirable conduct towards Warkentin’s adherents. I further wrote officially to Heinrich Neufeld, one of the most sensible preachers in Warkentin’s former congregation, and summoned him to inform me within days as to whether members of that church had decided about dividing themselves among the other church organizations or whether they would form two or three individual congregations. [Message to Neufeld:] Tell me by messenger and in writing what annual salary and other conditions you would expect, when you might be able to enter my service, and how the move might be arranged. By the New Year, you should without fail have established a church under the name Pordenauer Congregation and elected an Elder and confirmed him in office. In response, Preacher Neufeld appeared on behalf of his congregation and asked my advice about what I considered to be the most suitable course of action for them to take. I advised him to have the congregation divided into three individual congregations and elect an Elder for each. He assured me that the congregation was completely peaceful and would render absolute obedience in all matters to the Society and the District Office.

40 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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In effect, the salutary consequences of Yr. Excellency’s wise enactments can already be seen. Everything will now be different and better. We thank and honour you, State Counsellor, for the true happiness the Molochnaia Mennonite community will now enjoy. I have further officially written to the local Elders individually, summoning them to respond to Yr. Excellency’s commission to write to Prussia that no foreigners would be accepted here other than those who had proven themselves to be especially useful to the local community. I will keep you informed of everything and remain, with genuine devotion and respect, Yr. Excellency’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 594. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 28 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/100. Civilian Governor Muromtsev, Yr. Excellency, In response to your communication of 19 May 1842, I am pleased to report that last year Fein established facilities in Prishib to wash wool and that he has made the necessary preparations to pursue washing on a larger scale this year. I cannot, however, report whether the earlier washing facility succeeded or was completely satisfactory, although I think that he will make every effort to provide good facilities and develop a good reputation, especially since his is a new establishment. Yr. Excellency’s wool would really be useful by providing him with work and he would do his best to clean the wool as best he can. I would nevertheless advise Yr. Excellency to draw to his attention, in writing, the imperative need to have the wool well sorted and washed. My wool is ready for delivery. I have about 500 puds and would ask you to accept it next week, if possible. With the appropriate esteem and respect, I endeavour to remain Yr. Excellency’s devoted servant, Johann Cornies. 595. Church leaders to Johann Cornies. 29 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-837/1. To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, We, the undersigned, hereby notify you that, in accordance with the commission from His Excellency, Acting Chief Curator for the Colonists in Southern Russia, regarding immigration into Russia, we today

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wrote to all church Elders in Prussia, asking them to announce his message in all churches there. The church Elders, [signatures:] Benjamin Ratzlaff, W. Lange, Peter Schmit, Peter Wedel, Bernhard Fast. 596. Heinrich Neufeld to Johann Cornies. 30 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-837/3.41 To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, In the name of the congregation, and in accordance with the commission received from you, I write to let you know that the congregation has reached a decision to elect two Elders for the present and to have them confirmed in their positions. Because this action, in keeping with the teachings of the apostles, must be undertaken with fasting and prayer, we would ask that we be given time for the congregation to prepare itself with prayers and pleas to God, asking Him to direct us to men who would lead and direct the congregation according to God’s will and with righteousness, justice, and holiness. In the firm hope, that this, our request, would be accepted, I remain your humble servant of the gospel, Heinrich Neufeld. 597. Johann Cornies to August Wilke. 30 May 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/101. Dear Mr. Wilke, In response to your inquiry of last year I informed you that I was planning to establish an orchard in fall of this year, 1842. I have meanwhile completed preparations in this regard. The time has now come to hire a gardener. I am therefore sending you a special messenger to ask whether you would still like to enter my services as gardener at Tashchenak, as you wrote. If you are seriously interested, please let me

41 An indistinct note at bottom of this letter includes the words, “Lichtenau and Margenau in one month” and also “1 January 1843, Pordenau.” Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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know with this messenger and in writing what annual salary and other conditions you would expect, when you might be able to enter my service, and how the move might be arranged. Should I find your reply reasonable and acceptable, I will inform you immediately by messenger. With greetings to you and your family, I remain your friend, Johann Cornies. 598. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 2 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/102.42 Mr. v. Hahn, Yr. Excellency, As a follow-up on my report to Yr. Excellency of 25 May, I have the honour to let you know that, according to a communication from Preacher H. Neufeld of 30 May, the former Warkentin church congregation has decided to divide itself into two church congregations for now, under the names Lichtenauer and Margenauer congregations. In the next three or four weeks, these congregations will elect and confirm in office their church Elder. Because the improper actions to which these people had been misled have thrown them into grief and confusion, they have asked for permission to delay the formation of a third congregation until 1 January 1843. Moreover, the hay harvest is at hand and will occupy the attention of all inhabitants for some time. I have in fact given the congregation permission to delay the formation of three congregations until the New Year, as they requested, but with the stipulation that, without fail, the third congregation be set up under the name Pordenauer Congregation by the New Year, by which time they must also have elected an Elder and confirmed him in office. Meanwhile, peace has thus been completely restored. Warkentin and Klassen have withdrawn into their homes and become more restrained. The Society and the District Office are working with renewed zeal and industry to provide perceptive directives that would help us to return to the right path. I will not neglect to report the results of these activities to Yr. Excellency.

42 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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With great esteem, I have the honour to remain Yr. Excellency’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 599. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Neufeld. 3 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/104.43 From corresponding member etc. etc. To the esteemed church teacher [preacher] Heinrich Neufeld in Rosenort, In accordance with my commission from His Excellency, the Acting Head Curator, I notified him on 2 June in keeping with your report of 30 May that, freed of its Elder, the congregation has now decided to divide into two church congregations and to elect and have confirmed in office within a month a church Elder for each congregation. These two will be named Lichtenauer und Margenauer congregations. The organization of a third congregation, the Pordenauer Congregation, will take place no later than 1 January 1843. I would ask that you report to me when the congregations in question, the Lichtenauer and Margenauer, have been established and their Elders confirmed. How many villages make up each congregation? What are the names of the villages? Also, how many villages have been provisionally designated for the Pordenauer congregation? 600. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 4 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/104V. Mr. Hahn. Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, When Yr. Excellency visited Rudnerweide, the Mennonite Jacob Tjahrt, Rudnerweide, made a verbal request, asking for permission to submit a petition to Yr. Excellency on ordinary paper on behalf of his two stepsons in the Evangelical Lutheran confession. He was to have presented the petition in Halbstadt, but since Tjahrt did not complete it before Yr. Excellency’s departure, I would ask Yr. Excellency’s permission to send you the enclosed petition for your gracious consideration. With the most exceptional esteem, Yr. Excellency’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies.

43 Ibid.

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601. Evgeny F. Hahn to Johann Cornies. 16 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-889/2.44 As you probably know, we have started societies for the advancement of agriculture in all districts. However, these societies lack the most essential ingredients, especially knowledge. I have found it necessary to send out a type of circular for all settlers, providing guidelines in this regard, but mainly for the societies, in order that they can finally begin their work. The Society introduced among the Mennonites under your leadership provides proof that every good beginning can bear fruit. I am personally a professional who understands nothing about agriculture, and have no adviser in regard to these matters. My circular is therefore very imperfect. I know that you are willing to promote all things that are positive and therefore feel assured that you will help me in this matter as well. Please be so kind as to look through the pamphlet and send it back to me with corrections and changes. Cross things out and make as many additions and changes as you can and wish, knowing that the document, as a result, will be much better. I believe I will be leaving for Petersburg in fourteen days at the most, but will return to Odessa in July. I hope that everything is going as desired and that you do not find it necessary to complain about anything. If this is not the case, let me know. Please receive the assurance of my complete respect. E. v. Hahn. 602. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 20 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/106. Baron v. Rosen, A deputation of peasants from the crown village of Berestova appeared today at my home in Ohrloff in the hope that they might be able to meet you and submit a petition to you. Believing that they are in extreme distress and in need of speedy assistance, they have asked me to forward their petition to Yr. Honour by mail. I do so at their request, and ask Yr. Honour not to view my behaviour as arrogant or improper.

44 The draft circular referred to in this letter is not extant. For Cornies’ response, see TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 624.

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With the most exceptional feelings of esteem and respect, I endeavour to seize every opportunity to treasure your kindness and remain, in all honesty, Yr. Honour’s most faithful servant, Johann Cornies. 603. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 22 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/108.45 State Counsellor v. Steven, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication No. 429 of 1 May 1842, I have the honour to report that, although it would give me the greatest pleasure to agree to your highly honoured proposal on behalf of His Excellency, the Minister, and fulfil it as desired, I honestly feel that I am not able to do so adequately. Not only do I lack the necessary place to shelter a further sixteen crown apprentices, but most importantly, I cannot provide sufficient supervision for such a number. As I also reported to Yr. Honour, I have already had the experience of lads without parents who are frequently sent to me to learn agriculture. They have generally hung around in the villages and their characters have been spoiled. This causes me much annoyance and many problems. My economic interests can only benefit from such a considerable increase in the number of workers if they can be educated and become dependable employees, more concerned about achieving good results in their undertakings than are many hired people. On the other hand, the support needed by a crown apprentice, including presentable clothes, costs me 150 rubles. For this sum I can usually hire a worker for one year. Still, since I would like to carry out the Minister’s flattering proposal and since my intentions are not just to further my own advantage but to be generally useful, I will inquire among superior agriculturalists as to how many crown apprentices they might each accommodate. Apprentices should not only learn agriculture but also receive the best possible moral training. I have provisionally found several good agriculturalists to take on a number of apprentices. By fall, I expect to have my other estate on the Tashchenak where my son now lives established more firmly. Under his guidance a number of apprentices could be accommodated. For these reasons, I would ask that Yr. Honour permit me to defer a detailed report on this matter until fall.

45 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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604. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 22 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/106v. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I much regret that I cannot purchase any wool for you on consignment, even at twenty rubles per pud. Wool is now selling at a price of twenty-two to twenty-four rubles. Merchants from Berdiansk and Odessa have bought up all the wool that had not been sent to the Romen wool market. To my knowledge, there is no wool still in storage waiting to be sold except for a small quantity of unwashed wool, for which somewhat more than fifteen rubles has been offered. No one is buying wool except for merchants from Berdiansk and Odessa and some Englishmen, Frenchmen, and Italians. It may well be that wool prices have gone up because sheep raising has declined considerably in our area and merchants have not been able to purchase the quantity desired. Therefore, I will probably not be able to undertake anything on your account unless some unsold wool appears unexpectedly later on when I will naturally do my best and act in your interests. My own wool is still being stored as I await carters with whom to send my wool to you on consignment, as in the past. Kindly accept it for sale. This spring, field crops developed so well and grew so quickly to the point of forming ears, that one could reasonably hope for a good harvest. Now, however, they look correspondingly sad. The extreme drought and heat suddenly checked their growth. Much of the grain could not form ears and where ears formed, they ripened without kernels. Oats are selling at twenty rubles per chetvert. I commend myself to you and send you and your dear family my heartfelt greetings as your honest, faithful friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 605. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 23 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-661/9. Valued Cornies, I have been in Odessa for two weeks, and must soon return to Saratov. I am anxious to see you but circumstances are such that I must do so quickly. Perhaps I will begin my return journey by steamboat as far as Taganrog. The steamboat leaves here on 2 July, but will be stopping over in Berdiansk for half a day. Should I not reach your place by 5 July, please come to Berdiansk to await the arrival of my steamboat, presumably on 5 or 6 July. I would be very pleased if you could accompany me to Taganrog. Stay healthy until we meet again. A. Fadeev.

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606. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 25 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/111. State Counsellor v. Keppen, Regrettably, the well thermometer you had fabricated for me was broken when I received it from the post office. How regrettable that your efforts were for naught. Please, if you can, have another made up for me and kindly have it forwarded to Mr. Blueher in Moscow. Should I hear back positively from you, I will reimburse you by mail. Many thanks for sending me a description of the roads and paths in the Tavrida hills and an interesting overview of temperatures in 130 wells in the Tavrida peninsula. Our grain harvest will be a total failure due to the drought and heat that has persisted for so long. Much of the grain ripened without forming ears, the rye was long straw but very small kernels. Grain prices are rising from week to week, with a chetvert of oats fetching twenty rubles. Potatoes, on the other hand, are growing well and promise an abundant harvest if only we get a good rain soon. We had a great deal of hay, enough for local needs, but there will be little fruit. Severe night frosts on 8 April, 31 May, and 3 June seriously damaged buds, blossoms, and fruit, and grain fields in places. Washed wool is selling from eighteen to twenty-two rubles. There is not much demand for sheep and fat geldings and none for horses and horned cattle. In general there is a shortage of money that is oppressive. With respect, I remain Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 607. Andrei M. Fadeev to Johann Cornies. 30 June 1842. SAOR 89-1-661/10.46 Most valued Cornies, Unexpected circumstances have forced me to delay my departure. My oldest daughter, Mrs. Hahn, died and this sad event has disrupted

46 Fadeev’s daughter Elena Andreevna von Hahn was just twenty-eight when she died on 24 June 1842. Under the pseudonym “Zinaida R-va” she was one of Russia’s first female novelists; the famous literary critic Belinsky called her “The Russian George Sand.” Her daughter, Helena Blavatskaia, was the co-founder of the Theosophical Society. See Maria Carlson, No Religion Higher Than the Truth: A History of the Theosophical Movement in Russia, 1875–1922 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015), 38.

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all of my plans. Still, we will see each other. I intend to take the same route back to Saratov. By 25 July at the latest my family and I will travel overland, along the post road from here to Taganrog. I will visit you from Novoaleksandrovka. Until then, stay healthy, A. Fadeev. 608. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 1 July 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/112v. To the Acting Civilian Governor of Saratov, Fadeev, I was quite surprised by the unexpected news from Inspector Pelekh that you, most estimable Sir, will be journeying from Odessa through our villages on 2 or 3 July and that you also intend to honour me with a visit. I have hurried to my Tashchenak estate to receive you, and will remain here from July 1. Please, come to Tashchenak for a visit so that you can experience the longing and joy with which I will receive you. Yes, the sooner, the better. It makes no difference whether you arrive by day or at night, we are ready to receive you at any time and to wait upon you. Filled with the happiest expectations, I remain Yr. Excellency’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 609. Johann Cornies to August Wilke. 7 July 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/114v. Dear Mr. Wilke, I received your letter and see that you are inclined to again work for me, and plant another orchard for me in Tashchenak. However, it seems to me that the wage that you request is a little steep. I had thought of paying you 500 rubles, 600 at most. We would have to reach an agreement regarding board, the amount of flour you would receive, etc., so that you and your family can live without any worry. However, I really cannot accept the number of livestock you propose, not because of the pasture but because of barn space. There is space enough only for two cows. Since a good pasture lies at the door, the two good cows should be able to produce enough milk to feed a family such as yours. Housing is a more difficult problem. I have only one room, with a small bedroom, a cellar and a loft. It seems to me that this is too small and uncomfortable for a family the size of yours. While it is in good order and neatly arranged, the dwelling, because of its size, could be a real obstacle. I would very much like you to have a look at it yourself.

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If possible, please come by to see for yourself and let us reach an agreement. We could probably also agree on transportation to Tashchenak. As you know, I love honesty and write in such detail about what I think and how I regard matters. I promise no more than what I am able to do. I would gladly enlarge the dwelling, but this cannot be done. Otherwise I would not have mentioned it. I must not deceive you in any way. Perhaps, when you look at it yourself, you may find it large enough. Please write and, if possible, come here yourself before we conclude the details of an agreement Greetings to you and your family, as always, your honest, Johann Cornies. 610. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 7 July 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/113.47 Baron v. Rosen, Continuing progress and improvement in general conditions and in individual establishments in the Nogai model village of Akkerman have suffered much in the last few years because of a lack of firm and detailed supervision. Conditions have stagnated and deteriorated. People who try to make improvements lose their courage when they find that they are not protected from negligent neighbours. Repairs are seldom made to many houses, ditches around gardens are neglected, and livestock have the run of gardens damaging trees and trampling and ruining vegetables. This results in arguments, strife and discord among village inhabitants. Bullruck spends most of his time in the Burkut village community trying to carry out the obligations of his office and cannot keep order. The Elder lives fifteen verstas away in Bauerdak. Since he is totally uninformed about the agricultural disorder in Akkerman, he can accomplish nothing. It would be useful and to the purpose if a special Elder were appointed to supervise and carry out directives for the inhabitants of Akkerman. For this job, I recommend the Nogai Baigater Tokatleiv of Akkerman, with the humble request that, if Yr. Honour finds my proposal appropriate, these arrangements be made as soon as possible. It is essential that the inhabitants of Akkerman be

47 Regarding Akkerman see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 32, 97, 117, 197, 200, 222, 237, 268, 383, 457, 536, 610.

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brought under strict supervision to ensure that the establishments are maintained and the deterioration of everything built up with so much effort is kept from happening. With esteem, I await a resolution as Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 611. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Neufeld. 9 July 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/116.48 From the Corresponding Member, etc. To the esteemed church teacher Heinrich Neufeld in Rosenort, As a result of your statement of 30 May 1842, I immediately reported to His Excellency, the Deputy Chief Curator, that the congregation that had been freed of its Elder had decided to elect and confirm Elders within a month for both the Lichtenauer and Margenauer congregations. The establishment of the Pordenau congregation was to have followed by 1 January 1843 at the latest. Please report to me no later than 13 July whether the Lichtenau and Margenau congregations have been established, as reported in your statement, and whether each has elected its own Elder and confirmed him in office. How many of our villages and members were included in each of these congregations? This information will permit me to make a detailed report to His Excellency about all of these matters. 612. Heinrich Neufeld to Johann Cornies. 11 July 1842. SAOR 89-1-837/4.49 To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, I write in response to your communication of 9 July about the election of Elders. Although I reported on 30 June that the congregation had decided to have two Elders elected and confirmed in office, it actually only elected and confirmed one, namely Ohm Heinrich Wiens from Gnadenheim. The confirmation was carried out last Sunday, 5 July, by Elder Ohm Schmit from Waldheim. 48 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686. 49 Ibid.

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The number of villages or members included have not yet been tabulated. Because the congregants wish to hold a general conference of church teachers first, I am not able to say anything definite about an election of a second Elder for the Lichtenau congregation. Because Elder Ohm Heinrich Wiens is somewhat sickly, and because everyone is busy working on the harvest, I do not know when these matters will proceed. If it is necessary for you to write again about matters pertaining to the congregation, please do not write to me, but to the newly elected Elder, Heinrich Wiens in Gnadenheim. Heinrich Neufeld, preacher (“church teacher”) in the Lichtenau congregation. 613. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 13 July 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/119. Baron v. Rosen, On 11 July, I received a letter from Eftei Beokoni and Grigorii Shevchenko, deputies selected by the peasant community in the crown village of Berestova. On behalf of their village community, they asked for advice that would permit them to begin a legal investigation into encroachments inflicted upon them by the military. They have already submitted a petition respecting this matter. I am therefore emboldened to enclose the original letter from the peasants for your gracious perusal and action. I remain, with esteem and humility, Yr. Honour’s humble servant Johann Cornies. 614. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 13 July 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/119v. Mr. Blueher in Moscow, On 11 July I dispatched 410 puds, two and three-quarter funt net weight of washed Spanish sheep’s wool directly to you in Moscow. Forty balls marked J.C. on fourteen carts are being transported by carter odnodvorets Ignat Nikitin Sukhoi, from the village of Bogoiachenskoe Bielizi, Lendchansh Uezd, Kursk guberniia.50 Freight charges agreed upon with the carter are three rubles, thirty kopeks per pud, for a total of 1353 rubles,

50 The Odnodvortsy were a rapidly disappearing social estate of smallholders.

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twenty-two and a half kopeks for 410 puds, two and three-quarter funt, of which carter Sukhoi received 453 rubles, twenty-two and a half kopeks when he loaded the wool. Please be so kind as to give him the freight charges of 900 rubles still owing when he delivers the wool in good order, charging this to my account. I still have about 500 puds in storage that I intend to send to you with the first available transport. In providing this wool to you on consignment as in the past, I request that you inform me of its delivery in good order. Also to be handed to you by the carter are ten funt of madder in two varieties, packed in bast mats marked K.S. Please have both varieties examined by experts to determine what the price of each variety should be and how it might be prepared to sell at a higher price. I would also be grateful if you could kindly send me a half or whole funt of the best-prepared madder by mail, listing the price at which it could be sold there. This year, I can obtain no wool for you here. Prices are still rising. Twentyfive rubles have already been paid, even though all of the wool has already been sold, and Russian buyers are still arriving in search of wool. Much of our local wool, about fifteen to twenty thousand puds, was sent to Odessa. I have not yet heard about how much wool was sent to Berdiansk. Around eight thousand puds were transported to the wool market in Romen. I am really very sorry that I was unable to undertake anything on your behalf in this matter. If you should wish to have wool still on the backs of the sheep bought for you here in future, it would be in your interest to let me know by February, since much wool was sold at that time this year at reasonable prices. Perhaps this will be the case in future as well. With friendly greetings, I commend myself to you and your valued family, and remain, with love, your obligated friend and servant, Johann Cornies. 615. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 14 July 1842. SAOR 89-1-845/45.51 State Counsellor v. Hahn, On 2 June I reported to Yr. Excellency about a communication from Heinrich Neufeld, Preacher in the former Warkentin church

51 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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congregation. On 30 May, the congregation decided to divide itself into two church congregations bearing the names Lichtenau and Margenau. Within three to four weeks they were each to have chosen their Elders and had them confirmed. Preacher Neufeld, however, failed to notify me about their progress within the agreed-upon time period. For this reason, on 9 July I asked Preacher Neufeld to report to me by 13 July at the latest about the progress that had been made in establishing the Lichtenau and Margenau congregations already set up according to his report of 30 May and whether an Elder had been elected and confirmed in office for each of them. In response, teacher Neufeld wrote to me on 11 July that, although he had reported earlier that the congregation had decided to elect two Elders and have them confirmed, actually only one had yet been elected and confirmed, specifically Teacher Heinrich Wiens from Gnadenheim (for the Margenau congregation). He could say nothing definite with respect to the election of a second Elder in Lichtenau because a general church preachers’ conference needed first to be held. Because the newly confirmed Elder Wiens was sickly and members of the congregation were busy with the harvest, he did not know when this might happen. This cold and superficial report from Preacher Neufeld allows one to presume that the congregations intend to do something other than to elect a new church Elder. Perhaps they hope to work towards the renewed confirmation of the deposed Warkentin as Elder of the Lichtenau congregation. Even though Warkentin is staying at home quietly, it is said that some of his former members have recovered from the first shock and are displeased with Warkentin’s dismissal from office. Fuerstenwerder Village Mayor Thun, in particular, is beginning to stir up rebellion in the congregation, although quietly. This was evident in Fuerstenwerder village during the last election for District Chairman. Thun undoubtedly has supporters and advisers but I cannot yet indicate in detail who they might be. I only know Thun told acting District Deputy Neufeld that Elder Lange had said that “the walls have ears.” This leads one to conclude, especially with regard to the election lists from Gnadenfeld, that Elder Lange is not honest and faithful in carrying out the wishes of the administration to promote the community’s well-being. Thun recently also visited Johann Klassen in Ohrloff whom he otherwise never visits. Since Thun has already instigated much unrest in the community and rebelled against the local administration, it is my opinion that stern action should be taken. Thun should be quickly removed. I fear that

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otherwise he will mislead even more members, encourage disobedience, and cause disturbances and harm in the community. In a report to the Inspector, the District Office and Society will notify the Guardianship Committee about Thun and all individuals who agree with his views and who were openly disobedient and obstinate during the last election. The other congregations, those under Elders Bernhard Fast, Benjamin Ratzlaff, and Peter Schmidt as well as the so-called “Kleine Gemeinde,” stand together. They are calm and obedient and loathe the bad conduct evident in the other congregations, behaviour that violates the Mennonite confession of faith. The latter demands timely obedience towards the authorities. Although Wedel’s congregation vacillates in its attitude [on these matters], Wedel’s convictions are of a better sort and he truthfully strives to keep his congregation on the right track. Your Excellency’s most obedient servant, Johann Cornies. 616. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 16 July 1842. SAOR 89-1-762/63.52 From the Director of the Tavrida State Domains Bureau, State Counsellor Baron Rosen, Simferopol. About the completion of potato ploughs. To Mr. Johann Cornies, Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, The Minister has decided to purchase the three hundred potato ploughs already manufactured. As a result, the Melitopol Uezd Chief should take delivery of the ploughs located with you as soon as the directive is received and the money for them is paid out to you, on the basis of the list price of eleven rubles per plough. With the above decision the Minister was also pleased to designate potato ploughs for distant guberniias and to make the necessary preliminary introduction for their manufacture. After 145 ploughs have been designated for Tavrida, Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, Poltava, Chernigov, and Bessarabia guberniias,53 the Minister

52 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699. 53 The number of ploughs per guberniia is indicated in light, indecipherable numbers above each guberniia.

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has been pleased to have the remaining 155 potato ploughs sent up the Don for Kharkov, Saratov, Orel, Kursk, Tula, Kaluga, Riazan, Tambov, Voronezh, and Nizhni Novgorod guberniias. According to the above, I most respectfully request that you kindly give me reliable information about the most advantageous transport. Is there regular communication by water between Berdiansk and Rostov? What might the transportion costs be for these 155 potato ploughs between Berdiansk and Rostov? At the same time, please let me know how the transportation of seventeen potato ploughs to Odessa and determined for Bessarabia might best be carried out. From there the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers will arrange further transportation to Bessarabia. F.F. Rosen. 617. Forestry Society to village offices. Undated [between 13-26 July 1842]. SAOR 89-1-901/29. To village offices from Altonau to Ladekopp, According to the decision taken in the joint meeting between the Society and the District Office on the thirteenth of this month, two setting trenches should be dug this autumn between the trees already planted along the post road in our local district and prepared for further plantings. The Society charges the mayors of the villages from Altonau to Ladekopp to act without delay by marking locations for two setting trenches along both sides of the entire length of the post road. They must be in a straight line between the trees already located there, and always at the same distance from each other. The markings must stand out and be of sufficient size to prevent delay when workers are ready to do the digging. The village offices must not fail to report to the Society by the 25th of this month in order that one of its members inspect the work at the site described above. 618. Forestry Society to J. Martens. Undated [between 13-26 July 1842]. SAOR 89-1-901/32. To the member J. Martens, Following the above order to the mayors, the Society charges you to undertake a personal inspection on the twenty-sixth of the month, to ensure that the measurements and markings for these setting trenches are everywhere accurate and to submit them to the District

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Office to ensure that the workers needed to dig the trenches can be assigned as soon as possible. A report should also be made to the Society. 619. Forestry Society to Jacob Martens, Tiegerweide. Undated [after 15 July 1842]. SAOR 89-1-901/32. Jacob Martens, Tiegerweide, You are hereby informed of a report from the Lindenau Village Office that seven of the most advanced trees along the post road between Lindenau and Lichtenau were intentionally broken off during the night from the fourteenth to the fifteenth of this month. You should inspect them on site and undertake a detailed investigation to find the offenders. Results should be reported at the appropriate time. 620. Forestry Society to village offices. Undated [probably July 1842]. SAOR 89-1-901/30. To all village offices, A directive from the Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains to the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia has informed us as follows. In years when crops fail, inhabitants of the southern guberniias should prepare a tasty and healthy bread using wild pears. Specifically, thirty funt of pears should be used for every ten funt of flour. Also, the sale of such pears can provide considerable income in productive years and the wood can be sold at high prices because of its durability. The Third Department has taken this important matter under advisement and charged the Guardianship Committee with the careful promotion of wild pear tree planting. The pear trees are exceptionally useful in the settlements in southern Russia. All wild pear trees planted should be protected from damage and uprooting. The Guardianship Committee has ordered this Society to give all possible care to planting wild fruit trees, especially wild pear trees. All inhabitants of local villages should be alerted to the absolute need to plant them. The dissemination of wild fruit trees in the villages of this district promises settlers not only important advantages mentioned above but other uses, for example, as pig fodder. The trees themselves have exceptional endurance. To follow the wishes of the high administration,

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the Society orders all village offices to promote the planting of these trees in their villages for their own benefit. According to familiar directives, greater zeal must be shown in planting more wild fruit trees and especially pear trees along village roads and in other suitable places. A detailed report to the high authorities regarding such plantings will be required by the Society by November of this year and every year thereafter. 621. Forestry Society to village offices. Undated [probably July 1842]. SAOR 89-1-901/33. To village offices, According to the Society’s directive of 2 September 1841, earthen dams intended for the watering of hay meadows were to have been properly repaired in all areas where they had been torn apart or dug through to release excess water. Where necessary, they were to be strengthened, so that absolutely no further breaks were to be feared. Drains should have been provided that would permit the water to be released, or held back, to ensure that grass on hay meadows does not suffer damage in heavy downpours and that water is only held back long enough to promote the growth of grass in spring. It will also be necessary to construct new dams to increase grass growth on meadows. The Society therefore orders all village offices to report the following immediately upon receipt of this directive: the number of dams needing repairs or drains and the number of new dams needed. All village offices must send in such a report this year by the end of November, and in the following years. These reports will be submitted to the high authorities. 622. Agricultural Society to District Office. Undated [probably July 1842]. SAOR 89-1-901/29v and 32. This is to inform the District Office that the Blumstein Village Mayor made a presentation on behalf of the Hutterite Mennonite Johann Hoffer about the difficulty in finding sufficient space to pursue his trade in the quarters assigned to him. As a result, the Society found other quarters with Blumstein cottager Abram Loewen for Tobias Walther, and three other souls from Hofer’s family. An agreement was reached in this regard.

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623. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 3 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/122. Honoured Baron, Your Honour will be aware that the part of the Shilchodsha village community that evidenced discontent with its Elder Ramosan was sentenced to doing community work on Yr. Honour’s orders. The real reason for this discontent is Ramosan’s conduct of his office that was designed to promote all efforts to implement government orders without making any personal exceptions. The punishments imposed on the discontented have fuelled their bitterness towards Ramosan and it is said the intrigues prompted the district chief to remove Ramosan from office and to order an investigation of his conduct. I enclose the original of the letter Ramosan wrote to me, asking me to make a submission to Yr. Honour on his behalf that would allow him to retain his office until you are able to travel around the area, investigate the hatred of envious persons, and take whatever action is needed in this case. I also take the liberty to enclose a letter from Elder Bultruk describing the purposes of Nogais who have petitioned for permission to move to the Caucasus guberniia. He hopes that they will not be given the necessary permission, or, at the very least, that such a move will be made more difficult for them. Otherwise he fears that the economies of many Nogais will be destroyed. With the most sincere trust and genuine esteem, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 624. Johann Cornies to Evgeny Hahn. 6 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/123.54 State Counsellor Hahn, In response to Yr. Excellency’s esteemed communication of 16 June 1842, I am honoured to respond to the rough draft you kindly sent me for amendment and correction. In my judgment the enclosed changes to the rough draft should be made. I have also made several additional proposals. The purpose of the draft is to remind settlers of their duties by explaining their present position to them. It spells out what they

54 For Hahn’s request for this input, see TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 601.

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could become and makes them aware of the initial steps needed to improve their economic establishments to this end. Because of the low level of enlightenment in economic matters among settlers, I do not think it useful to describe everything needed to improve every branch of agriculture in settlements as a whole. One must also recognize that local circumstances and the soils in new settlements are quite varied as are the customs and practices of these new inhabitants. In consequence an innovation in one locality might improve its agricultural establishments while the same innovation in another locality might cause serious damage. On the whole, I submit a rough draft for your examination and remain, with the greatest esteem, Yr. Excellency’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 625. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 10 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/125v. Baron v. Rosen, It is deplorable to see how the Molokans are wrecking their agricultural establishments and bringing about their own ruin. It is painful to watch. Some people in this area as well as some administrators at lower levels are restless, and use fabrications and lies to sow discouragement and confusion. They have circulated an idea that an Imperial ukaz has been released ordering a resettlement of the Molokans once local Doukhobors have been moved to the Transcaucasus. Even the best Molokan agriculturalists have been so discouraged that they are beginning to neglect their establishments. Much that was built up at great cost over many years of effort is deteriorating. The result springs to the eye upon entering their villages and houses. Several orchards in Novovasilievka, for instance, were once quite remarkable, but are now untended and overgrown with weeds. The trees are close to dying. Molokans had hoped that only individuals who had received permission from their community would be given the freedom to move to Georgia. But over the past five or six weeks, a rumour has been spreading that the Novovasilievka Elder had asked the district chief whether other persons might be allowed to move to Georgia. The district chief supposedly replied, “maybe the community will not be asked.” The Molokans interpret this answer as proof that an ukaz has been released banishing them. As a result, fanatics have now been given greater scope for their activities, abusing and showing contempt for anyone who does not follow their colours.

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To halt this chaos and protect the good, positively inclined agriculturalists, it should be made clear that a resettlement from here is not such an easy matter and will be made even more difficult. The limited viewpoint and restlessness of many individuals is such that they can no longer recognize their own best interests. I have just learned that the fanatics are hard at work, writing down lists of names of those interested in moving, but include a large number of names of individuals who would rather remain here. I have advised Molokans who do not wish to move and who want to be reassured about rumours of their exile to write to Baron v. Rosen describing the confusion which presently exists among the Molokans and depicting the situation that they face. This would give them accurate information regarding current gossip and set it to rest. The Elder is said to be one of the primary instigators of this unrest. He lives in another village, and has little to lose, possessing neither a house nor an agricultural establishment. The best and simplest means of halting these fantasies among the Molokans and of overcoming their desire to move to Georgia, would be to send out the first and second military summons, requiring them to send their sons off from here [as inductees into the army] before they receive permission to move to Georgia. 626. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. 10 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/127v. State Counsellor v. Keppen, Thank you kindly for your willingness to replace the broken well thermometer. I return it to you with this letter and will forward the required payment immediately upon being informed of the cost. When it is ready, please send it to Moscow, to the address of G.A. Soerensen & Company in the Sarepta Trading Company, for delivery to me. I still do not understand how the barometer should be filled. Mr. v. Steven visited me recently, and could also not understand the instructions in this regard. Thank God that the grain harvest here turned out better than had been anticipated. Seven to eight dark, rainy days, when many field crops were ripening, allowed the kernels to develop completely. Lateseeded crops are providing a satisfactory harvest and only crops seeded early did not turn out well. The grain harvest in our villages turned out tolerably well, enough to fill our needs. In spots, there will probably

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even be a considerable quantity of grain available for sale. Grain prices have fallen, oats down to eight rubles while other varieties have fallen similarly in price. However, there is no demand for livestock. In the Khortitsa Mennonite District the grain and hay crops are very poor and pastures are barely sufficient. Old sheep are selling for two rubles and young ones for eighty kopeks. Even then, there are few buyers. At the wool market in Romen, wool sold at twenty to twenty-one rubles per pud. A large portion of our local wool, however, remains unsold. The Nogais will support themselves with the grain they have grown, or at least most of them will. In the regions around Mariupol and towards the Don, grain harvests have been abundant. Eight to nine chetverik of wheat have been harvested from a bundle of sixty sheaves. In Berdiansk, they are paying seventeen to eighteen rubles per chetvert. Even Mennonites are now beginning to roof their houses with tiles, and the fences lining the streets are being built solidly of fired brick. With the most complete respect, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 627. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 11 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-762/65. From the Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, Baron Rosen, About the settlement of Mennonite families in Vitebsk and Mogilev guberniias, To the Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, Because the Minister for State Domains considers the settlement of Mennonites on crown lands in Vitebsk and Mogilev guberniias favourably, the Second Department of State Domains is required to determine how many Mennonite families might emigrate from Prussia and what their terms would be. Only then can final measures for such a settlement be undertaken. This possibility initiated by the Second Department of the Ministry of State Domains requires information that I would request. If you are unable to provide me with concrete information for the Minister, please let me know what your expectations are for the above-mentioned settlement of Mennonites from Prussia on crown lands in Vitebsk and Mogilev guberniias. Also, when approximately might you be able to provide more definite information in this respect? Director B. Rosen. 11 August 1842. Simferopol.

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628. Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev. 13 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/129v. State Counsellor Fadeev, Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, We have been living in the joyful hope that we might soon see you again in the Molochnaia. We wanted to pay our respects and express our thanks to you for our success after so many years. As our magnanimous benefactor, you have laid the basis for our improved destiny as Molochnaia Mennonites. We have a continuing memory of your benevolence. Although we could not have expressed our feelings adequately, or fully revealed the extent of our honest thanks, we still wanted to voice what was in our hearts and show you how much we value, treasure, esteem, and love you. With such joyous and hopeful expectations in our hearts, we counted the days and hours until your arrival. However, when I learned with painful surprise from your letter, that God, in His unfathomable will, had torn your beloved oldest daughter Elena Andreevna from your midst, my hope sank and even more so when your second letter told me that you were still undecided whether you would be travelling by land or by sea. I can vividly imagine the pain and bewilderment this blow must have given you and your esteemed wife and children and I sympathize with you sincerely and honestly. May God comfort and quiet your grieving spirit with mercy and power. That the deceased achieved a better life quickly, without struggle and pain, will surely have helped to comfort all of you once you overcame the first shock. Time, with its soothing balm of forgetfulness, heals the deepest wounds and softens the most nagging sorrow. May God’s deeds allow you to look up, with quiet tears, to a better world. Much of what God does is unfathomable for us, but we must believe firmly that what God does is well done. There is no other solace for a loss such as yours. We still took pleasure in the news that although you were travelling by sea on the steamer, your wife would make her overland journey through our settlements. As many preparations as possible were made for her reception, according to rural custom. We wanted to make her journey through here as pleasant as possible. We were denied this pleasure when the wheel on her coach broke, causing great pain for those who had awaited your wife’s arrival in Altonau. I was the only one who had the pleasure and honour of attending upon her in my house at Tashchenak. As much as Madame desired a visit to our villages, she preferred to take the most direct road to Nogaisk by way

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of Novoaleksandrovka. Since the broken wheel delayed her for three days, she decided to hurry because Yr. Honour might be disturbed if her arrival at Taganrog was delayed for long. In this way, accidents and unanticipated situations frustrated the pleasure we long hoped and yearned for and for which we had made our preparations. We anxiously hope that Yr. Honour’s wife arrived safely by wagon in Taganrog without further incidents. May the unseen hand which inflicted this wound on Yr. Honour in the form of Yr. dear daughter’s death, give you joy in many other ways and, as the years pass, may you find solace and pleasure in your remaining children and in the joy that the one who has gone on to eternity gave you. This is my most honest wish, with which I have the honour of remaining Yr. Honour’s honestly humble servant, Johann Cornies. 629. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 17 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-813/2.55 State Counsellor Hahn. From Chairman. Twelve Radishchev Mennonite families arrived in the Molochnaia Mennonite District in June, sent by their community on orders from the Guardianship Committee to obtain fodder for their livestock. I assisted these families, acting on Yr. Excellency’s verbal commission. Since the grass for hay had already been mowed on the land assigned for the Radishchev Mennonite settlement in the Tashchenak ravine, I left them as much grass for hay as they needed on my own land and did not charge them. They were able to make enough hay for their livestock. I have already provided winter quarters for these Mennonites, by assigning each family to a house in the Molochnaia Mennonite villages. When they all arrive, each family will have accomodations and be able to move in without the least delay. However, I now have further fears because of the fact that almost all agricultural production has decreased here and that the grain harvest in our local villages was poor. As a result, a shortage of money is likely to be widely felt and day labourers will earn little. The Radishchev Mennonites will not be able to earn enough to support themselves

55 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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with their own work. I therefore make an urgent submission to Yr. Excellency requesting a decision to give these people an advance of one and a half chetvert of rye per soul from the Molochnaia Mennonite storage reserve to support them and to provide them seed grain for their first harvest. I ask further that this might be considered shortly, so that the needed order can be sent to the District Office in good time, before the end of August if possible. I obligate myself to take care to prevent any abuses and that at least forty desiatinas of land will be seeded with rye for them this fall. For this purpose, I also obligate myself to provide some of my own land without charge, since none of the land assigned for their settlement is ploughed land, prepared for winter seeding. It is most urgently necessary to ensure that poor settlers maintain a hopeful state of mind because the successful founding of new settlements and their further step-by-step development depends principally on this. Since Yr. Excellency requested that I conduct and advance the economic circumstances of the Radishchev Mennonites and has commissioned me to do so, it would be appropriate for this purpose if the Guardianship Committee were to issue a directive to inform the local inspector and the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office that I have been assigned to lead this settlement and to supervise its economic arrangements. Only in that way would I be able to require the cooperation of these authorities in case of necessity. 630. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 17 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/132v.56 Honoured Baron, On behalf of my employer, Johann Cornies, who has just left to inspect the potato fields in our local area, I am pleased to report the following. Inquiries were made in Berdiansk about the two rubles demanded for transporting potato mounding ploughs to Rostov, since this is surely much too expensive. A different opportunity was found to achieve the purpose of transporting them overland to Rostov. Empty carts from our local villages are going to procure iron next week Tuesday, 25 August,

56 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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and they would take the ploughs along quite cheaply, possibly for fifty kopeks each. Yr. Honour might therefore resolve this matter for Mr. Cornies by return mail if you agree, informing him at the same time of the names of persons who are to take delivery of the ploughs and also who will pay the carters. A better and more advantageous opportunity from here could not soon be found. The ploughs could probably not be delivered to Odessa other than by sea from Berdiansk, but I have no specific information in this regard. 631. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. SAOR 89-1-802/134. 22 August 1842. Baron v. Rosen, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication No. 684 of 18 November 1841 that included some millet seed for testing, I am pleased to report that this seed was treated exactly according to the accompanying description and produced a fifty-fold harvest. It seems to be very suitable for the local climate. Johann Cornies. 632. Johann Cornies to Third Department, Ministry of State Domains. 22 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/133. To the Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains, In response to the Third Department’s communication No. 10986 of 19 September 1841, I have the honour to report that the grain harvest in our local area and everywhere else turned out only moderately well, and provided only a small harvest for the population. The one and a quarter funt of potato oats [kartoffel Hafer] sent to me, produced only slightly more than the quantity seeded. The plants came up healthy and grew luxuriantly until destructive winds arose during the month of June. This curbed their progress and further growth. The seeds produced, however, are capable of sprouting so that it appears that this variety of oats is well suited for planting and, if later trials fulfil the presumed prospects, for propagating here as well. The summer rye sent to me with the Third Department’s communication No. 4819 of 30 April arrived here on 23 May. It was too late for spring seeding, and will therefore be stored for seeding in the spring of 1843.

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633. Johann Cornies to District Office. 22 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/134v. To the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, As far as I am able to remember, the course of events described in the written declaration of 7 May 1837 by Gerhard Dyck of Ohrloff, is entirely correct. At that time, I not only paid my fellow guarantors the portion they were owed from the proceeds of the sale of a windmill I had sold to a Molokan on credit, but also the further interest charges received from the Molokan. Dyck made his entire property available for our disposal and it was completely in our power to compensate ourselves in this way. Still, in order that Dyck would not be completely ruined, we only sold the mill and the dwelling even though he offered us everything he had. For this reason, it did not occur to me that Dyck was still in our debt in any way and that, after a number of years, the guarantors could make further demands in regard to this matter that was settled long ago. If this was the case with the other guarantors at the time, it is clear that they intended to cheat me and to make Dyck their own debtor. This is unjust and deserves punishment. By voluntarily giving up his entire property, Dyck settled his debt for all time and it would be wrong to consider him a debtor. It is certainly not Dyck’s fault that the guarantors did not take everything that he owned when they could. If one wishes to be just and conscientious before God and the world one should not demand the return of what was once offered but declined. Should anyone make claims in so injust a manner, I would have no choice but to charge them with having deceived me by settling my claims earlier and then returning to the matter later on their own. Johann Cornies. 634. Evgeny v. Hahn to church Elders. 26 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-805/1.57 To the Church Elders of the Molochnaia Mennonite district, Reports from your local administration awaited me on my return from St. Petersburg. They suggest, to my sincere regret, that despite 57 This letter is located in Cornies’ papers, though it is not part of his correspondence. It is included here because it helps shed light on the Warkentin affair. Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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all warnings and personal admonitions from me, several members of the former Warkentin congregation were again disobedient and obstinate during the recent election of District Chairman. Mayor Thun of Fuerstenwerder especially appears as someone who has taken highly illegal and punishable actions and become an example of such behaviour to the inhabitants subordinate to him. He incites them to disobedience and foments disruption and harm in the community. Until the present time, I have preferred to depend on the influence of the church Elders, cherishing the confident hope that they would take all measures needed to permit peace and calm to return on their own. Now, however, I see that I must take the sternest measures myself to halt this evil and to reduce the guilty persons to a position in which they are completely harmless in future. I find it very difficult to assume the role of judge and disciplinarian, since I would prefer, with all my heart, to appear as father and guardian. Nevertheless, I consider my duties to be sacred and would be sinning against my superiors were I to tolerate any longer the spirit which reigns in several Mennonite villages. I therefore will soon undertake a personal investigation of this matter locally with the purpose of uncovering everything that has occurred, including guilty persons. I again formally declare that Warkentin is irrevocably deposed and that Peter Toews from Tiege can likewise not assume the leadership of the District Office. Every action directed against these regulations must be considered punishable. In revealing this information to the church Elders, whose good intentions on behalf of the community’s well-being are sufficiently familiar to me, I would at the same time request that you again apply all means available under the precepts of your church to ensure that evil be set aside with your cooperation and that a positive situation and the general well-being be promoted. At this time, your cooperation could best be evidenced if the church Elders were to use all their influence to completely halt any new rebellious initiatives within congregations and to bring the guilty to an honest repentence. Sincere, candid repentence is the only possible route to the mitigation of the deserved punishment. Original signed by Acting Chairman of the Guardianship Committee, Knight and State Counsellor v. Hahn. Exact copy of the original.

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635. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 29 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/136.58 Director Baron v. Rosen, After having just completed an inspection tour of the imperial potato fields in Melitopol District, I am honoured to humbly submit my opinion about the likely prospects for this year’s potato harvest. The late rains have increased the size of the potato tubers greatly. On most of the planted desiatinas they are still growing vigorously and on several they are still in blossom. The tubers are fresh and growing larger. In my judgment and estimation, the harvest would be from three- to fifteeen-fold if they were dug out now. The average gain should therefore turn out to be about seven- to eight-fold. A total of 200 to 1500 chetvert of potatoes should be harvested from the thirty-nine desiatinas sown. Should it be possible to leave the potatoes in the ground until the end of September, despite early frosts, they would ripen completely and the tubers would get even bigger, delivering an eight- to nine-fold return. Plots planted with potatoes by peasants can be seen in virtually all village communities and districts. Although most are still very irregular, and reflect poor agricultural practices, they still fill one with hope that peasants, with time, will understand that potato cultivation is in their interest and that potatoes can thrive on the steppes. The volost Elders for Mikhailovka and for Ulkonbeskekle are ahead of all other Heads [Golovas] in encouraging Elders and peasants to plant potatoes. In praising them, I must add that they consider the increase of potato cultivation among the peasants under their authority a matter of importance and have given the peasants an example by planting a considerable number of potatoes themselves. The Golova of Ulkonbeskekle in particular also travels around the peasant potato fields to convince himself that they are well managed and gives orders. I found that most of the peasant potato fields in these volosts were not worked any less carefully than were the crown potato fields. I am confident that the peasants of these two volosts will distinguish themselves through

58 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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abundant harvests. Even an assistant supervisor in the Ulkonbeskekle village community is not only making an effort to work the two desiatinas of crown potatoes under his supervision neatly and systematically, but he also visits Nogais who have planted their own potatoes, teaching them and making them aware of how the potato fields must be worked to obtain good results. Johann Cornies. 636. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 29 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/137v. Baron Rosen, The Elder from Besheul asked me to visit the twelve Nogais affected by a fire in spring who have refused to settle on specific regular building sites in the settlement. After being sternly admonished by the Director, they had promised to accept their hearth-sites allocated by lot. Yet when I assembled them to draw lots, they resisted, saying they would not do so this year, but only next spring. Why? I asked the Elder to submit the reasons in writing. In response, he sent me the enclosed explanation in the Nogai dialect. When I talked to the Ulkonbeskekle Head about this matter, he told me that all [Nogai] districts had a strong desire to move to the Caucasus. About 100 families from the Volost had already chosen deputies to present the District Chief with a petition requesting resettlement to the Caucasus. Should they return with anything that could be desirable to them and would increase their hopes of obtaining permission to resettle, he was sure that at least a third of the Nogais would petition for resettlement. He also added that no one was talking about anything other than resettlement: “no houses are being repaired, and nothing could be farther from their minds than building new ones.” People say that Musledin, a Nogai from the Iugartamgol District, has instigated this hoax. A former interpreter, he supposedly visited the Caucasus last autumn, returning this spring. He described the Caucasus region as a land of milk and honey, where everyone follows his own will and manages his affairs as he likes. No orders exist there to establish regular villages or to plant trees and potatoes. Nogais there still breathe freely and lived a nomadic existence, not as here, pressed together in villages and houses that destroy both body and soul. There are no boundaries and no one had to live in fear of cattle seizures by Russians. Wives are less expensive since poorer Nogais can buy them more cheaply from the Kalmyks, and so on.

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When I travelled through the Nogai district myself, I took note of the fact that there were a few Nogais from the Caucasus in almost every village. When I asked what they were doing, I was told, “They have come to visit their relatives and have brought along wooden harnesses made from trees in the Caucasus mountains as gifts to be sold.” I could not find out anything more, but think that they are here to take along horses without the agreement of their owners. Speculations of this kind are the Nogais’ primary trade. Some may well be here to lure away local Nogais. Basically, I doubt what they say, and I am more inclined to believe that the whole matter is a hoax. With the most exceptional esteem, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 637. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 31 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/141.59 Honoured Baron, In response to Yr. Honour’s communication of 25 August, let me repeat that the carters will forward 155 potato ploughs to Rostov, and have delayed their departure until 12 September for personal reasons. I think we should realize Yr. Honour’s commission and avail ourselves of this opportunity to transport the ploughs cheaply and to the profit of the crown. If a further communication in this regard should reach you in Ekaterinoslav before 12 September, let me know immediately. Alternatively, could it be possible to forward the ploughs first and have the necessary papers sent to Rostov by post later? The cartage I have agreed to is twenty-five kopeks for each plough, without packing. Anticipating your kind answer by return mail, I remain with the highest esteem, Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, J. Cornies. P.S. 31 August: According to the estimates submitted to the Third Department, the three-tined potato hoe is now twenty kopeks cheaper than it was last year, specifically one ruble, eighty kopeks, instead of two rubles. This follows a request from State Counsellor v. Steven for negotiations with local craftsmen for all agricultural implements in use here so that the price for each implement would be determined once a considerable number of each sort had been manufactured. I heartily thank Yr. Honour for your gracious interest. Johann Cornies.

59 Ibid.

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638. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 31 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/142v. Honoured Baron, While travelling around our local uezd on matters involving the potato fields, several Novovasilievka peasants presented me with a petition addressed to Yr. Honour. It deals with the unrest among the Molokans that is causing so much neglect, principally in their agricultural affairs. They asked me to forward it to Yr. Honour. Enclosed is the petition for your attention. I remain, with esteem, Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 639. Johann Cornies to District Office. 31 August 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/140.60 To the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, In inspecting the crown potato fields in the crown village of Bereslova in the company of an official of the Melitopol District Domains Administration, I was told that the necessary seven and a half chetvert of seed potatoes for the crown potato plantation had been bought in Margenau village last spring at seven rubles. Since there was no certification in this regard, I knew that the price noted was exaggerated. The police office gave the Bereslova zassedatel [administrator] an order to produce the required certification from the Margenau mayor for the potatoes purchased there last spring. As a result, the latter appeared in Ohrloff yesterday, 30 August, with the certification from Margenau, signed by the mayor, and imprinted with the village seal. Convinced of the Margenau mayor’s honesty, I certified the Russian-language receipt for seven rubles. Somewhat later yesterday, the Margenau Mayor came to see me by chance. Still somewhat suspicious about the matter, I asked him how he could certify the purchase of a chetvert of potatoes at seven rubles. He told me he knew nothing of the matter, but his wife had told him that several local inhabitants had been writing something in the Village Office. In sending the District Office the enclosed certification, which seems to be false, I request that it investigate this matter thoroughly and

60 Ibid.

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without delay and that the guilty persons be delivered to the crown for their obvious and audacious deception. Kindly notify me about the results. 640. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 3 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-901/13.61 State Counsellor Hahn, I have provided the Radishchev Mennonites with good quarters, food, work and the maintenance of order so that they might live peaceably over the winter and occupy themselves usefully. Still, a major worry persists. The Radishchev Mennonites are totally without the money needed to achieve the government’s purpose of establishing themselves with appropriate arrangements at the new location chosen for them. These good, healthy, and industrious people have lost almost all of their property in the resettlement from Radishchev. Forced to sell their houses for ridiculous prices in Radishchev, most for forty to a hundred and fifty rubles apiece, they are very poor. Nor did they receive anything for their community buildings and other structures such as a church, a bridge, dams, a mill, etc. I am thinking hard about the means needed to construct livable houses. Once they have these, there will be one worry less. I have no concerns about their ability to establish themselves economically in a way that would raise them to a state of moderate well-being. On a recent inspection tour of our local villages, I visited every one of these Mennonite families in their quarters. They are clean and industrious people who know how to help themselves with modest means. Since they have cast all of their worries on me and are following my directives to the letter, I feel a special obligation in appealing most urgently to Yr. Excellency’s fatherly guardianship for help. Might it be possible to extend a loan of 15,000 rubles to them to construct their houses at an annual interest rate of five percent? The money would come from the Khortitsa Community treasury. I would provide a personal guarantee that this capital, with interest, would be completely repaid to the Khortitsa Community treasury within six years. I have heard that a considerable sum of cash is now lying virtually unused in the Khortitsa

61 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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Community treasury, and could, in my opinion, be applied to a better purpose by lending it as an advance to the Radishchev Mennonites for house construction. Moreover, it is also our duty as Mennonites to support one another with whatever means we have. I know of no other way to achieve the orderly settlement of the Radishchev people and to maintain their courage and trust. I have calculated these figures exactly and am fully convinced that the money is sufficient to construct thirty good, suitable houses seven fathoms long and four fathoms wide, with several interior walls, for 15,000 rubles. This project could also serve as an example in the establishment of similar villages in future. Should Yr. Excellency find merit in my suggestion and permit me to count on a cash loan for house construction from the Khortitsa Community treasury, please let me know by the New Year so that no time is lost. This would permit me to have window and door frames for thirty houses built by craftsmen in our villages over the winter, at a time when workmen might be hired more cheaply. 641. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 3 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-762/68.62 From the Director of the Tavrida State Domains Bureau, State Counsellor Baron Rosen. About the delivery of 155 potato ploughs to Rostov. To the Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, I have received a communication from the Director of the Ekaterinoslav State Domains Bureau about potato ploughs. I welcome your communication of 29 August reporting that the delivery of these ploughs to Rostov can still be carried out. Please send these potato ploughs to Rostov, sufficiently well packed, when you can. Should the carters demand part of the cartage charges, kindly advance the required sum and let me know. Also include charges for packing the ploughs so that I can, without delay, send you the money needed for the whole transport and for packing.

62 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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The District Chairman is being notified about the bill for the delivery of these potato ploughs. Their number according to this bill is one hundred and fifty-five rubles. These must be delivered to the appropriate district chairman, who has received a directive to accept these ploughs from the Director of the Ekaterinoslav State Domains Bureau. F. F. Rosen. Received 12 September 1842. Forwarded one hundred and fifty-five items 13 September 1842. Reported to the Baron 12 October 1842. 642. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 6 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/143. Baron Rosen, In response to Yr. Honour’s esteemed communication No. 412 of 11 August, I have the honour to report that although a not inconsiderable number of Mennonite families might be found in Prussia who would be willing to emigrate to the Mohilev and Vitebsk gubernias in Russia, it is impossible to determine their number in advance. All Mennonite families who might be useful as model agriculturalists in these guberniias own their own land in Prussia. Most of them are wealthy. They will not decide to sell their land before inspecting the land designated for their settlement in Russia and weighing the advantages and disadvantages of such a move. However, were this land to be set aside for them, even if temporarily, they might well send deputies to inspect it and to familiarize themselves with all related circumstances and the conditions prescribed. If they were then free to settle the land within six to ten years, and if the Russian government confirmed its permission for them to freely practise their religion according to their principles (as is now true for Mennonites already settled in New Russia), I believe that many good Prussian agriculturalists would gradually decide to sell their land and resettle in Russia. Johann Cornies. 643. Johann Cornies to Neumann. 8 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/145v. Valued Mr. Neumann, For a long time good, pure-bred breeding rams have been available for purchase from me annually in September at fixed prices. Specifically, this happens promptly on 23 September each year, and not one day earlier. They are all two years of age and pure-bred, available at

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fifty rubles, with a few at one hundred rubles. I never send out wool samples. All in all, I am convinced that the rams will completely fulfil the expectations of knowledgeable bidders. With complete esteem, I remain, your respectful Johann Cornies. 644. Johann Cornies to Peter Mierau. 12 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-861/4.63 To the esteemed Peter Mierau in Fuerstenwerder, His Excellency, Acting Chief Guardian for the Colonists in southern Russia, State Counsellor and Knight v. Hahn has investigated the matter of disobedience and obstinacy on the part of the Fuerstenwerder village community in the election of a District Chairman. He found that you were the only one of thirty householders who challenged the insinuations made against the authorities by former Village Mayor Dierk Thun, and were ready to vote for the District Chairman as ordered by the authorities. This is right for every obedient and orderly inhabitant to do. His Excellency has ordered me to thank you on his behalf. It gives me pleasure to inform you accordingly, and express my confidence that you will continue to demonstrate your obedience to our fine authorities. Chairman of the Society for Plantings, Agriculture, and Trades. 645. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Neufeld. 14 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/146.64 To the esteemed Church Teacher (preacher) Heinrich Neufeld in Rosenort, His Excellency, the Deputy Chief Curator for colonists in South Russia has ordered me to inform the preachers and members of the Warkentin congregation that Warkentin will be removed from our settlements, without dispute, as the chief source of conflict, unless a new Elder is elected for the Lichtenau congregation between 11 September 1842 and 2 October 1842. The Inspector has been appropriately informed. 63 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686. 64 Ibid.

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In future, the preachers of this congregation must absolutely refrain from suggesting to the congregation, as they have in this case, that the administration lacks authority to remove an Elder from his post and from our settlements as a dangerous person. Under the guise of piety, the Elder confuses the congregation, arouses its opposition to the regulations and laws of the state, and tries to stir up its anger and hatred against the authorities. This is evident from the written evidence, attested to and sufficiently confirmed by the facts. The preachers, moreover, should not call together meetings in their churches under the pretext of holding a regular Brotherhood Meeting when that meeting consists of only two people from each village whose evil intentions are familiar. The purpose of such a gathering is to hatch plots against our regulations and laws. They should instead call brotherhood meetings of [all] brethren as is required by the Mennonite confession of faith and Mennonite church practices. Every brother in the congregation should be freely admitted to discussions about religious and church matters and allowed to participate fully in the reaching of decisions. Under no circumstances should secret gatherings be held in churches as has occurred in the Margenau church. Having informed you of my commission and the order from His Excellency, I expect a written report as to whether your congregation is now completely obedient and whether all preachers are trying hard to keep the promise made to the Acting Chief Guardian at the official meeting in the District Office in Halbstadt on 11 September in the presence of members of the Society and the District Office. Please send me a report this week in order that I might inform His Excellency in this regard. 646. Johann Cornies to District Office. 17 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/148v. To the esteemed Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, I have been told that riders sent out by the crown beverage leaseholder set up eight roadblocks for several days and nights this week along the road from Tokmak to Novovasilievka, along the Arrap and on Mennonite district land. These persons stopped travellers to demand brandy. I would ask the esteemed District Office to inform the Inspector about this matter so that the crown beverage leaseholder might be ordered to

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refrain from setting up any roadblocks on Mennonite land and to halt this evil as soon as possible. Johann Cornies. 647. Johann Cornies to Abram Mathias. 18 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/149. To the esteemed Abram Mathias in Rudnerweide, I described Jacob Pauls’s misdeeds to him in detail as I did the abomination of the sins he had committed before God and the community with his lies and dissolute life. He then promised, with firm resolve, to stop his offensive conduct and begin a better life, more pleasing to God. He asked my forgiveness and because of his promise to improve, I forgave him with all my heart, hoping that his remorse was honest and pleasing to God. As far as I am concerned, Pauls can be accepted back into the community in God’s name. With friendly greetings, I remain, with love, your honest friend, Johann Cornies. 648. Heinrich Neufeld to Johann Cornies. 18 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-837/6.65 To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, Johann Cornies in Ohrloff, I write to let you know that the Lichtenau congregation decided, at its Brotherhood meeting on 15 September, that it can be counted on to elect a new Elder this coming Tuesday, 22 September. The congregation at Pordenau held its meeting on 17 September and decided to act similarly at a meeting on 29 September. Preacher of the Lichtenau congregation, Heinrich Neufeld. 649. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. v. Hahn. 22 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/151v.66 State Counsellor Hahn, After Yr. Excellency’s departure, I did as you asked and again wrote to the preachers and members of the former Warkentin congregation

65 Ibid. 66 Ibid.

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in a letter of 14 September addressed to Preacher Heinrich Neufeld in Rosenort. In response, on 28 September, Preacher Neufeld let me know that the Lichtenau congregation had held a Brotherhood Meeting on 15 September and agreed to proceed to the election of an Elder on 22 September. The Pordenau congregation met on 17 September and decided to proceed to the election of an Elder on 29 September. It is now possible to hope that Warkentin’s great influence in stirring up conflict can be brought to a close. I will report further developments in this regard. With esteem and devotion, I remain Yr. Excellency’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 650. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 22 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/150.67 Honoured Baron, The subject of potato cultivation causes great annoyance and resistance among most district chairmen and village Elders. This was clearly evident in spring when crown seed potatoes were delivered to district and village offices. To prevent further damage, Mr. Andreevskii and I agreed that all district chairmen who acted dishonestly and deceitfully should be punished as examples in future. Mr. Andreevskii immediately wrote a detailed report about this matter to the Uezd Chief, an extract of which I enclose. However, the Uezd Chief deemed these measures to be ineffectual and returned the report to Mr. Andreevskii. Recently, when I toured the crown potato fields with Mr. Andreevskii, I realized that many uezd chiefs and village Elders had done nothing to distribute crown potatoes among the peasants despite stiff orders to the contrary. They had ridiculed peasants who had planted potatoes in the fields. Mennonites in charge of the overall supervision of potato planting complain that many Elders refuse to follow orders and place obstacles in their way. Refusing to post watches at their potato patches to prevented damage by people or livestock, they had simply abandoned their potato fields to ruin.

67 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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With sorrow and indignation, I asked Mr. Andreevskii, who had witnessed the many outrages, to send another report to the Uezd Chief, a copy of which I enclose. I do so because I doubt that he will comply. In the interests of the general well-being, I would ask Yr. Honour to order chiefs and Elders to stop trying to obstruct orders of the state in this way. Their behaviour can only mislead peasants and provoke hatred against the government. In anticipation of Yr. gracious consideration and intervention, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 651. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 22 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/152. Baron Rosen, Because Nogais neglect proper supervision, the sheep bloating disease [Raende] is spreading quickly among their Spanish sheep. The better agriculturalists complain that district chairmen and village Elders refrain from following regulations to the letter because they fear that if they did so they would not be re-elected to their positions. On the whole, the Nogai district suffers much because of weak leadership. Individuals who would support improvements enjoy neither encouragement nor support and receive no protection from their jealous neighbours. I would respectfully ask that Yr. Honour make arrangements through the Uezd Chief to ensure that Nogais whose sheep are afflicted cure them of this disease. Such sheep should be kept away from the flock and herded separately. Paying special attention to this branch of their economy is in their interest. 652. Agricultural Society to Guardianship Committee. 22 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-861/2. [Draft] To the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers etc. We respond to directive No. 5758 of 8 December 1841 from the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia that included an essay by Mr. Isnar regarding the improvement of the steppes in southern Russia. It asked the Society for its views regarding the application of these suggestions to the Molochnaia Mennonite villages. The Society has the honour to submit its opinions on this matter. The Society is of the view that the implementation of the proposal is somewhat premature, although it shares Mr. Isnar’s ideas about its

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usefulness. It has accordingly decided to undertake an experiment beside Ohrloff village, following this plan. Between 1 January 1843 and 1 January 1845, the Society will surround approximately seventy-one desiatinas of ploughed land with trees. The proposal will be submitted to the Guardianship Committee for its approval. The trees would be planted around two pieces of land, with trees one sazhen apart. The twenty-two fullholders in Ohrloff Village would each be required to plant ninety-one trees. The Society has selected the field elm (Ulmus Camestris) as being most suitable for this purpose. It is superior to all other tree varieties for planting on the steppe and thrives the best. To shield the trees from damage by cattle, the Society would provide ditches five feet wide and four feet deep at both ends and on the upper side, and to plant trees with trunks four to five feet high to their crowns in regulation-sized setting trenches. Within very few years, the trees planted in this manner would touch one another and, in so doing, provide a protective wall for the cultivated land from the bordering steppe. This approach would combine the useful and the beautiful. We would therefore graciously ask the Guardianship Committee to hand down its resolution to the Society in this matter in order that it might take the necessary measures in a timely fashion. 653. Agricultural Society to Guardianship Committee. 22 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-861/7. Opinion of the Molochnaia Mennonite Society for the Advancement and Improvement of Agriculture and Trades regarding the essay of Mr. Isnar on the improvement of the steppes of Southern Russia. In view of our experience of more than thirty years, members of the Society for the Advancement and Improvement of Agriculture and Trades in the Molochnaia Mennonite District are of the view that Mr. Isnar is correct in his ideas regarding the improvement of the steppes of Southern Russia. There is only one method for dependably averting the evil that has made agriculture so difficult in Southern Russia, and primarily in the Tavrida, and that is to protect the land from the effects of cold and dry winds. A purposeful division of fields is part of the solution to this problem. To ensure that the soil on the Tavrida steppe continues to produce well and does not lose its fertility, it must be improved by means that fertilize the soil and restore the ingredients leeched from it by uninterrupted harvests. The Molochnaia Mennonites would not have obtained

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the plentiful and splendid harvests for which they are known over a period of thirty-seven years if they had used the same field for uninterrupted grain cultivation, without appropriate means to retain the soil’s powers and improve the fields in purposeful ways. [A heavily revised and crossed out section not reproduced] Now that our growing population is decreasing the excessively large livestock herds kept here until now, the grass to graze livestock will grow better and be more productive. Only in this way will it be possible to decrease damage done to steppe vegetation in dry years. Thin shade can be achieved by mixing the light, friable steppe soil with firmer clay soils. The topsoil’s depth can be increased by using powerful fertilizer appropriate to the soil. The fields must be cultivated at the appropriate time and severe movements of air warded off. As a result, two harvests can be obtained from livestock pastures, and they can be planted with a variety of grass seeds. Mennonites feel as though their pursuit of agriculture is still in its infancy and that a more mature age will make a completely new and changed form of improving the Tavrida steppes possible. This they have already tested on a small scale. Consequently, Mennonites will be grateful to Mr. Isnar for his essay, which presents a suggestion for improving Southern Russia’s steppes. It completely corresponds with ideas in this area that the Society has held for many years. These ideas have generated proposals for the planting of approximately seventyone desiatinas of cultivated land at Ohrloff village according to the enclosed plan. It may well not be possible to carry out this plan as completely as Mr. Isnar might wish, since its realization may be too difficult at this time and since we still have a shortage of hands. Its purpose nevertheless moves in the right direction and the plan can definitely be expected to be achieved in time. Through better and more complete plantings on the steppes, our fields would be protected from cold and desiccating winds. Grain harvests and grass would grow more regularly and luxuriantly and increase the productivity of our agriculture. 654. Johann Cornies to District Office. 23 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/153v. To the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, You are hereby respectfully notified that Paul Funk, from Sparrau village, has been given more time, until 1 September 1843, to completely repay his debt.

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655. Johann Cornies to Governor Muromtsev. 24 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/153v. Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, Muromtsev, On 24 September, I received Yr. Excellency’s esteemed communication of 11 September, in which you kindly informed me that real estate belonging to Ekaterina Apollonovna Rakhmanova in Dneprov district has been put up for sale. I thank Yr. Excellency for this communication and can report that I am not inclined to purchase this land. It is dry steppe land that can only be used to pasture livestock, and lacks sufficient water to supply an orderly establishment. Looking ahead, it would seem better to me to acquire a piece of land with a location and soil that support the raising of agricultural products of many varieties without excessive expenditure, even if that land is twice as expensive as this one. In my view, the land under discussion is deficient in water, and the quality of its soil and its essential vegetation diminish its value greatly. I do however think that if Martens were prepared to pay as much for the land as the peasant, i.e., eleven rubles [per desiatina], then Madame Rakhmanova might well agree, because Martens has enough money on hand to be able to pay cash. I consider it one of the joys of my life to be able to remain, with complete esteem and devotion, Yr. Excellency’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 656. Johann Cornies to District Office. 30 September 1842. SAOR 89-1-906/20.68 From Chairman of Society for Advancement of Agriculture and Trades in the Molochnaia Mennonite District, at Ohrloff, on 30 September 1842. To the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office at Halbstadt, After having divided off some of my own ploughland on my Tashchenak estate and given it to the Hutterite Mennonites to use for winter seeding, I make the following request to the esteemed District Office, acting on the basis of a high administrative order. I think that these Mennonites could easily be given an advance of twenty chetvert of

68 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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good winter rye, capable of sprouting, from the reserves in our village storehouses. It would, in my view, make sense if these settlers were to receive this rye this week from the village storehouses in Altonau or Muensterberg villages, or at the latest, on Monday next week. I would ask the District Office to inform me of the disposition of this matter. 657. Johann Cornies to District Office. [18] October 1842. SAOR 89-1-901/6. From the Society for the Advancement and Improvement of Agriculture and Trades in the Molochnaia Mennonite District. To the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office in Halbstadt, I write in response to the District Office Commission’s presentation to this Society for the audit of community accounts for the nine years from 1833 to 1842 that cover the entire period of service of the late District Chairman Johann Regier. All accounts have been conscientiously checked, and raise no doubts about the accuracy of the declarations. This is stated at the end of the accounts. The audit has been confirmed and signed, with an impression of its seal. An accurate copy of this is hereby provided for the District Office. Accordingly, the Society asks the District Office to organize a combined meeting with the above-mentioned Commission to conclude with a joint written decision regarding the best way of dividing the specified sum of 5968 rubles ninety-one kopeks that is to be collected from the village communities. The Commission’s report to the Society approved this decision, and agreed that it should be added to the conclusion of the District Office’s documents and accounts. In this way, the matter can be concluded and the Society given a copy for its information. 658. Johann Cornies to Peter Siemens. 5 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/156. Mr. Peter Siemens in Ohrloff, From corresponding member, etc. The Minister for State Domains thinks it would work to the advantage of [Prussian] Mennonites to have them settle in Vitebstk and Mogilov guberniias. To ensure appropriate measures to facilitate this project, he has directed the Second Department of State Domains to determine how many Mennonite families might avail themselves of this opportunity and under what circumstances this might be done.

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The Second Department has asked the Director of the Tavrida State Domains Bureau, State Counsellor and Sir, Baron v. Rosen, to pursue this matter. He wrote to me in an effort to speed this process along. To inform the higher authorities accordingly, I reported to the Director on 16 September 1842 that a considerable number of Mennonite families might well be interested in resettling to the guberniias of Vitebsk and Mogilev because of a shortage of land in Prussia. Before such a decision could be made, the land would first need to be inspected by deputies from Prussia to ensure that the location of the land and the tested properties of its soil could effectively support the wishes of the government for model agricultural establishments in that region. Ten years must be allocated for such a resettlement because the best Mennonite agriculturalists in Prussia own their land and this would first have to be sold. Otherwise good Prussian agriculturalists with sufficient means and qualities that corresponded to the government’s intentions could not be expected. I expect the government to make more specific decisions in response to my report. In the meantime, I have a request to make assuming you agree that the entire project is appropriate to the purpose of finding a new asylum for Prussian Mennonites. Please write to Prussia to inform them about the intentions of the Imperial government. Be sure to note that the Crown will provide no support money or cash advances to interested parties. There might be some help in obtaining wood for the building of houses. The two guberniias are exceptionally well located for the sale of their agricultural produce. The area is knit together by a good network of waterways, the Dnieper that flows into the Black Sea and the Dvina, north into the Baltic Sea. When I inspected these guberniias I saw several navigable tributaries along which there was extremely fertile land. The region has an abundance of wood and the climate is similar to that of West Prussia, at forty-seven degrees north latitude and fifty-four to fifty-six degrees east longtitude. Travelling via Vilna, the area is about 800 to 1000 verstas east of Marienburg [sic]. Johann Cornies. 659. Johann Cornies to Muromtsev. 5 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/159v. Muromtsev, Yr. Excellency, Gracious Sir, I venture to bring a pressing issue to the attention of Yr. Excellency. I know you are overwhelmed by your responsibilities, but I hope you might find the time to give me some sound advice.

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About two weeks ago an unmarried Mennonite housekeeper, Elisabeth Riesen, arrived from Prussia on a valid Prussian government travel visa to visit her Mennonite relatives in the Molochnaia settlement. Johann Rempel, a local Mennonite in Gnadenfeld village who was widowed a year ago, wishes now to marry this woman, and she is willing to oblige. Our Mennonite clergy do not, however, want to unite these people in marriage until they have Yr. Excellency’s permission. No hindrance to her permanent stay in Russia exists on the part of the Prussian government, and application for the consent of the Prussian government to her remaining here after the month of April 1843 has been made and is to be expected. Rempel’s fullholding has already deteriorated a great deal since the death of his wife and will suffer further without a housekeeper. Please therefore, Yr. Honour, kindly inform me in a few lines whether it is possible for a religious marriage union to take place before she receives formal consent from Prussia. Presenting this situation for Yr. Excellency’s gracious consideration, I remain, with the most complete esteem and deepest feelings of respect for your resolution, Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 660. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 5 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/158.69 To the Director of the Tavrida Domains Bureau Rosen, On 29 September 1842, Abraham Huebert, supervisor of state potatoes in the area, reported that when he arrived in the Mustapoi District to lift out the potatoes, he found that they had already been dug up by the Tatars [Nogais] on 25 September on orders from the district chief and had been left on carts. Huebert investigated the potato field, where a large number of Tatars not hired for the purpose were busy gleaning. He found that there were no potatoes left in the soil. They had all been picked up by humans or devoured by livestock. As a result, he could not teach the apprentices the advantages of lifting and sorting the potatoes on the field. Huebert measured this desiatina’s total potato harvest and found that it consisted of five chetvert, seven chetveriki, one garnetz, unsorted. I had inspected the potato field in July and

69 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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provisionally estimated the harvest to be from five- to six-fold. At that time the potatoes were growing well, even though the setting of tubers had been somewhat meager because of the drought. According to my judgement, twenty-five to thirty chetvert of potatoes should have been harvested from this desiatina. Even if I assume that the potato tubers could not have grown much because of a lack of rain, a fourfold harvest could definitely have been expected except for the arbitrary actions of thieving Nogais at the time of digging. Accordingly, the yield would necessarily have been twenty chetvert, instead of only five chetvert, seven chetveriki, one garnetz. The drought had done such damage to the whole potato field in Bolshaia Bieloserka that I doubted if the harvest would equal the quantity seeded, but six chetvert, one chetverik, five garnetz were nevertheless obtained there. In contrast, judging by the fresh growth on the Mustapoi desiatina, it should have been able to deliver a sevenfold potato harvest. Therefore, the hurried digging of the potatoes in Mustapoi not only produced a loss for the crown of at least fifteen chetvert potatoes, or of thirty silver rubles, but was also detrimental to the progress of good order and the respect of peasants for the whole matter of potato growing. I have the honour of bringing this matter to Yr. Honour’s attention. Johann Cornies. 661. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Neufeld. 6 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/161.70 To the esteemed preacher Heinrich Neufeld in Rosenort, In response to your report of 18 September, I sent the following information to His Excellency, Deputy Chief Guardian for Colonists in Southern Russia on 22 September. You had reported that the former Warkentin congregation had firmly decided at its Brotherhood Meeting of 15 September in Lichtenau that they would elect an Elder for the Lichtenau congregation on 22 September. A similar gathering was held in the Pordenau congregation on 17 September. It decided that an Elder would be selected for this congregation on 29 September.

70 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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I have not heard from you whether these decisions were carried out. Also, at the time of your meeting in the District Office with the Deputy Guardian on 11 September, you and several preachers personally promised him that the latest date by which you would have elected Elders would be 3 October. This date has now passed. I now charge you, as soon as you receive this letter, to report to me whether Elders have been elected to carry out this promise, who they are, how their congregations are designated, and how matters in this regard have been arranged for each Elder. My purpose is to enable me to carry out my duty of reporting on this matter by the next post date. Johann Cornies. 662. Agricultural Society Chairman to Guardianship Committee. Undated [after 6 October 1842]. SAOR 89-1-1005/6. To the Guardianship Committee from Chairman, In response to Directive No. 6232 of 6 October 1842 about forest-tree seeds to be purchased for the Mariupol settlement, I have the honour to report to the Guardianship Committee that I entirely share its opinion. Instead of testing a large variety of seeds at the same time, only varieties already known to be suitable for the soil and the climate should be seeded at the start. The advancement and dissemination of tree plantations depends primarily on the early success of such seeding which is the easiest way to overcome prejudices [against certain varieties of trees]. I therefore think that it would be necessary only to obtain white maple, ash, elm, linden, and oak seeds for the Mariupol settlement. Despite my best efforts, forest tree seeds have only arrived in small quantities, making it impossible to fully meet local demands in the Berdiansk District and the Mariupol Mennonite District. It has therefore been impossible to do anything in this respect for the Mariupol Settlement District. 663. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 7 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-762/70. From the Director of the Tavrida Bureau of State Domains, Simferopol. About the neglect of measures to prevent bloating disease [Raende] in Nogai sheep herds. To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies,

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I write in response to your notification of 22 September, that sheep bloating disease is getting the upper hand in the Nogai sheep herds, and that its spread would be damaging to these people. No local authorities have taken stern measures to stop the spread of this disease and, left unattended, it could result in grievous losses for the Nogais. I agree with what you write and have issued the necessary order. I send you my most obligated thanks for your communications, Rosen. 664. Johann Cornies to Heinrich Neufeld. 8 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/163.71 To the esteemed church teacher Heinrich Neufeld in Rosenort In response to your report of 7 October, I can tell you that I have today sent this information to His Excellency, and requested that he kindly delay the designation of members for each of the three church groupings until the two newly elected church Elders have been established in their positions. In notifying you in this regard, I request that when you next report to me about the number of members incorporated into each of these three church congregations, you note the number of male and female members in each one and the names of all villages incorporated into each congregation, even if only in summary form. Also, after every Elder has been established in his office, I would ask you to report to me promptly in order that I do not have to remind you of this matter again. I expect you to submit a detailed report without any action on my part. Johann Cornies. 665. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 8 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/162.72 To Director Baron v. Rosen, Potato digging in twenty-eight village communities of the Melitopol district has just been completed. Three varieties have been stored

71 Ibid. 72 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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in chambers comprising 1143 chetvert. The potatoes have not been entirely picked up in another eleven villages, but about 300 chetvert can be expected there. I will send you a full report as soon as I can. I would however humbly request that Yr. Honour inform me as to how the sale of potatoes should be arranged, something I need to know now. Provisionally, I have taken the liberty of instructing Mr. Andreevskii to sell the third variety for a silver ruble per chetvert as soon as he can. In my view, it would be best to sell tubers of the first variety that grew exceptionally large in some villages for two silver rubles per chetvert. They are too large for seeding and would first have to be cut in half. I doubt that this could be done properly because the peasants lack sufficient knowledge to do so. At the moment, I am in no position to decide on the sale of potatoes from specific villages. I will write about this later. Still, it would be helpful if Yr. Honour could let me know of the response to this suggestion. In only a few village communities did potatoes grow large enough. Late rains kept them from ripening sufficiently. I think it would be best to sell off all such potatoes, again for at least two silver rubles per chetvert. These are just preliminary thoughts. I look forward to Yr. Honour’s response. 666. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 12 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/164v. His Honour, State Counsellor v. Steven, If it does not require too much effort, I would ask Yr. Honour to send some hornbeam or red beech seeds along with this messenger, Jacob Reimer. Also, would you be so kind as to add a few seeds of whatever trees would grow here? Reimer has been authorized to pay the costs. Our weather is dry, with no moisture of any kind. Winter grains have already been seeded and have sprouted well. Our small pasturage is green. Grain prices in our villages are as follows: wheat fourteen rubles, rye ten to twelve rubles, barley seven hundred to seven hundred and fifty kopeks, oats six rubles, fifty kopeks, millet eight rubles. Ordinary ewes are selling for six rubles or less. There is no demand for horses and cows. The harvest in the Mennonite villages, on average, has been quite good this year. About 15,000 chetvert of wheat will be sold in Berdiansk.

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I am sending along the balsam poplars and the black currant plants you ordered, packed in a bast mat. With constant esteem and honest devotion, I have the honour to remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 667. Fedor F. Rosen to Johann Cornies. 15 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-762/71.73 From the Director of the Tavrida State Domains Bureau About selling this year’s potato harvest. To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committe in the Ministry of State Domains, Mr. Johann Cornies, In complete agreement with your opinion about the sale of potatoes from this year’s harvest, I ask you to deal with this matter as you understand it and with a view to the future. Totally persuaded that your directives are always based only upon the most practical and best solutions, I am ordering the Uezd Supervisor to assign the sale of potatoes to his assistant Andreevskii, under your direction. B. v. Rosen. 668. Johann Cornies to Traugott Blueher. 15 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/167. Esteemed Mr. Blueher, I am again grateful to you for selling my last year’s wool. I enclose the receipt for the money received for the sale, with the assurance that I am totally satisfied with the price and request your further involvement in future. I am also thankful to you for sending me the Dutch madder. I still cannot get carts to transport the wool now stored with me here and will perhaps have to wait until we have sledge roads. Informing you that we are well in all respects and sending our heartiest greetings to you and your dear family, and with wishes that you might all be well in body and in soul, I remain with love, your familiar friend and servant, Johann Cornies. Receipt: Twenty-eight thousand three hundred and eight rubles, fifty-three kopeks Banco, after the deduction of exchange rates and the specific

73 Ibid.

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costs for the wool given to be sold on consignment by Mssrs. G.A. Soerensen & Comp. in the Sarepta Merchandising Company in Moscow. A total of seventy balls of wool designated Litt. J.C., containing 836 puds, thiry-two funt net weight of washed Spanish sheepswool, were correctly received by me to. I herewith complete this transaction to which I attest on 1 September 1842 in Ohrloff village. 669. Description of the Warkentin affair. Undated [between 10 September and 18 October 1842]. SAOR 89-1-813/19-30.74 The discontent and resulting disorder that has prevailed in our community since March of this year originated twenty years ago in Khortitsa. Since that time, the church Elder Jacob Warkentin has joined with the Khortitsa Elder Jacob Dyck to ensure that their congregations would speak with one voice. Jacob Dyck is the senior Elder who has held his post for the longest period of time and his congregation is regarded as the oldest and most important congregation among the Mennonites of Russia. Considered to be the mother church, it has a deciding word [in church affairs] while the Molochnaia [churches] are considered to be daughter congregation[s]. The Molochnaia Mennonite community has attained a higher level of prosperity [than the Khortitsa community] because of its progress in almost all branches of the economy. This has come about because of the introduction of new agricultural branches that have become increasingly important from year to year. This is also despite Mr. Warkentin’s opposition to industry and enlightenment (not only to reforms but to other developments as well). (Such advances have aroused envy and selfish attitudes among the people of the Khortitsa settlement and in Jacob Dyck himself.) The two fanatics, Dyck and Warkentin, see some of our benevolent institutions and practices as damaging to the foundations of Mennonite beliefs and to the spiritual welfare [of their communities]. Describing the innovations of the Molochnaia Mennonites in derogatory terms, they have tried to instil this hatred into their own communities. 74 Internal evidence suggests that this draft description was probably written in September 1842, almost certainly by Cornies although he is not named as its author. Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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Based solely on their offices, these two men have tried to convey to their communities the impression that they were the primary leaders in their communities spiritually and temporally. They have suggested that everything not introduced through them and with their approval, would lead to perdition. In this spirit, the Khortitsa District Office and its Society for Plantings were not permitted to make decisions or begin anything new in the Khortitsa District without Dyck’s advice and agreement. As a result, the people of Khortitsa made little progress in their institutions and in raising the level of their enlightenment. Nor will they make progress under Dyck or a similar Elder unless our high authorities deny them the opportunity to interfere in the temporal affairs of the community. The temporal leaders of the Molochnaia Mennonites, on the other hand, have paid no attention to Jacob Warkentin and have frequently silenced him for periods of time. Warkentin often visited Dyck, who supported him with his insinuations sometimes secretly, and sought his advice on how they might provoke members of his own community into opposing new administrative directives. This battle had to be refought and won every time fresh improvements were introduced into the Molochnaia District by its District Office or Society. Still, Warkentin managed to win more adherents to his side and the membership of his congregation grew in size. Warkentin’s church discipline was weak and behaviour that should have been punished according to the Mennonite confession of faith was not. As a result of this failure to admonish his communicants many other Mennonites transferred [their membership] to his congregation. In this way Warkentin was able to assemble the largest congregation. Within his own congregation where Warkentin refused to permit temporal leaders to punish anyone for their misdemeanours, misconduct and vice held sway. (Warkentin’s basic beliefs are contrary both to the Bible and to Mennonite beliefs.) Moreover, in his preaching, Warkentin corrupted the souls of his members, inciting their hatred for their temporal leaders. The temporal leaders, however, continued to carry out their duties and legal responsibilites, even punishing misdemeanours with small fines or community work as examples for others. As a result, even these Elders began to look askance at their temporal leaders and their orders. Scornful or not of the decisions of the temporal leaders, they still found fault and persuaded members of their congregations that various parts of some measures were not necessary, useful, or of utility. They were particularly offended by the new, attractive, and

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more appropriate building style using fired brick for houses and barns. This style was strongly supported by the Society because it gave our villages a more cheerful and beautiful appearance. The Elders mistakenly felt obliged to try to persuade their temporal leaders to ask them for advice before issuing orders to the community. The other Molochnaia Mennonite congregations, for their part, concluded that they would themselves lose members if they were to sternly administer their offices according to our confession of faith. Indeed, while the membership of their congregations gradually declined, the membership of Jacob Warkentin’s congregation increased. [Matters reached the point] where Elders mistakenly felt obliged to insist that their [Mennonite] temporal leaders inform them [of what they were planning] and ask for their advice before issuing orders to the community. (The temporal leaders, however, rejected this advice and continued, as before, to carry out their duties and legal responsibilities.) Warkentin quickly realized that other Elders were also voicing their aversion, and redoubled his efforts to resist. In this matter, however, he was unable to make any progress because the District Office and the Society, together and united, continued to do their work. This so embittered Warkentin that, in the election for a new District Chairman, he hypocritically tried to influence the other preachers and members of his congregation to vote for Peter Toews. He also insisted that Toews oppose the Society and discuss all directives from the authorities with him first before proceeding to their implementation. Warkentin insisted that he was familiar with the law and argued that the Society had introduced new measures not because they were favoured by the authorities but simply to torment the community. If elected as District Chairman, Toews would direct local affairs as Warkentin himself had done twenty years earlier when he had held the same office. One village mayor was so unscrupulous that he allowed himself to be used for Warkentin’s purposes. Travelling through our villages spreading this delusion on the pretext that his journey was intended to unite the congregations, this village mayor tried to criticize the actions of members of the District Office and to arouse hatred against them. Despite the fact that the Society’s members were not molested, he was able to accomplish the election of Peter Toews with 395 votes. The Society was unwilling to accept this unjust decision, knowing that if Peter Toews were confirmed in office as District Chairman, he would embrace all of Warkentin’s ideas and try to destroy all of the good things that the Society had started. For this reason, the Society

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informed the community that Peter Toews was not suited to serve as District Chairman and should not be confirmed in Office by the authorities. It also informed the [Guardianship] Committee accordingly. [Under these circumstances], Warkentin and his relative Klassen tried to unsettle local Mennonites further by arguing that they should not permit themselves to be robbed of their vote. For his part, the above-mentioned rebellious village mayor travelled through the villages encouraging people to cling to their right to vote for Peter Toews, even if one of the three candidates who had been submitted to the Committee were confirmed. Skilled in inflaming people’s minds and turning them against everything that was not in accordance with his perceptions, Warkentin persuaded all of the Elders, with the exception of Elder Bernhard Fast, to press unanimously for Peter Toews as District Chairman. Should the [Guardianship] Committee refuse to confirm Toews in office, it was agreed that all community members in each village who agreed with Warkentin’s original purpose should turn to the Elders themselves, demanding that they appeal to the Guardianship Committee in the name of the community and insist on two things: that the right to vote should be maintained for the community; and that Peter Toews should be confirmed in office as District Chairman. For this purpose, a special conference of church teachers [preachers] should, in their view, be held. When the refusal to confirm Peter Toews followed, an Elders’ conference was called at which Elder B. Fast openly declared that he could not agree to this plot and would have nothing to do with it. This served to reproach Warkentin for his predictions and promises, and the community realized that it had been led astray. It insisted that he fulfil his promises. Warkentin and Klassen now grasped the most extreme measures imaginable, travelling to Odessa to negotiate the confirmation of Peter Toews in office as District Chairman. After Warkentin and his assistant returned from Odessa, Warkentin struck his sails. Downhearted, his congregants hung their heads. Quiet reigned, since District Chairman Regier, one of the greatest motes in Warkentin’s eye, had died while Warkentin was in Odessa. Warkentin attempted another ruse when the Committee directed that a second election for District Chairman be held. Appearing more openly with Klassen, Warkentin insisted that State Counsellor v. Hahn had told him that the [Guardianship] Committee would confirm Peter Toews in office as District Chairman if he were elected. This news spread like

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wildfire through the whole community, and the Committee’s circulated directive for the election was ignored when read out in every village office. The directive from the Committee had suggested the persons whom it approved as choices for the community, and plainly ordered the community not to choose Peter Toews, who had not been confirmed. Warkentin and Klassen dismissed this communication as a fabrication on the part of the District Office and the Inspector. Most inhabitants ignored the directive. [In the second election], Peter Toews again obtained a majority of 837 votes. He could not restrain himself and made predictions the inhabitants were curious to hear. Warkentin continued to spread a variety of falsehoods he claimed to have obtained from State Counsellor v. Hahn, mistakenly believing that he had achieved his purpose because he had thrown the whole community into turmoil. Obedience ceased and everyone did whatever they wanted to do. Business in the District Office and Society ground to a halt. Warkentin ruled like a False Dimitry, to everyone’s approval.75 At a gathering of village mayors in the District Office, the majority of mayors renounced their obedience, following a signal from the previously mentioned rebellious mayor Thun. Licentiousness seemed to take over. People who had better intentions voiced the most thorough representations but were unable to persuade the community in general to continue in peaceful obedience. Warkentin and Peter Toews devised firm plans to govern the community according to their will and condemned administrators who had not led the community according to their own wishes. Suffice it to say that this period resembled the dark ages, the times of the Vandals. Most better-thinking minds stood firm and unflinching despite their anxiety and sorrow. Without reservations, they wanted to submit the entire proceedings to the administration and to have these disorders ended by thorough measures. I could not agree to this because I knew that very many innocent persons, led astray by Warkentin, would then encounter misfortune. I do not know what might have motivated Warkentin or why he sent

75 The notorious False Dmitry ruled Russia from July 1605 to May 1606. An imposter, he claimed to be the youngest son of Ivan IV, Dmitry Ivanovich, who had in fact been assassinated in 1591.

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two of his church teachers to ask me to come see him. This invitation seemed peculiar to me and I did not know how to interpret it. I nevertheless decided to go to see Warkentin accompanied by another person. Warkentin began by making statements about unfair activities during the elections for District Chairman but did not mention that he had in fact told others about State Counsellor Hahn’s supposed remarks. I asked him to consider the present condition of the community and also the sad results that could arise from it. I encouraged him to make peace pointing out how easily this could be done if he wished to do so. On the other hand, if he did not want to make peace, he must be prepared to appear before the courts. These words seemed to change his mind, and Warkentin held out his hand, saying: “I can restore peace in my congregation but I will first consult my fellow servants.” Then he added: “I do comprehend that nothing good can come from such an uproar, which will be shameful for our descendants for a hundred years.” The following day he sent me a written invitation, delivered by one of his members, and I travelled alone to see him. Greeting me in an unusually friendly manner outside when I arrived at his house, I began to suspect him of being cunning. I became aware of two persons sitting near the window in the house. It seemed to me that Warkentin wanted to start a discussion outside, but I decided that I would not do so without witnesses. I therefore hurried through the door ahead of Warkentin and stepped into the room. In the presence of the two men from Warkentin’s congregation waiting there, I said that I had responded to his invitation and now wanted him to explain what he expected of me. With the gravity of a Haman sitting on his divan, he made gestures indicating he did not know anything about having invited me to his house. I referred to the letter in my pocket, which had been written by one of his members at his request. Then he remembered, acting in a manner that seemed to indicate that the Seven Year’s War had meanwhile occurred. Yes, he now remembered having invited me. Through trickery and reproach, he criticized everything built up over the last twenty years and derided everything in which he had not been allowed to have his own way. He could not, he said, calm his congregation. The congregation pursued the goal of justice and was therefore especially discontented. It was not interested in peace, because the administration had placed him under the supervision of the other Elders. Klassen, his nephew, had been unjustly punished, he

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said. Moreover, Mayor Thun’s action in sending out his letter had been undertaken with the best of intentions to promote the community’s well-being. It was worthy of praise. If, however, I were prepared to retract all that I had done to oppose him and Klassen – all of it unjust – he would try to persuade his congregation to make peace. I could naturally not agree to his presumptuous demands that had been witnessed by the whole community. I told him abruptly that this could never be. Thereupon Warkentin spread a story throughout the entire community that I had approached him and asked him to forgive me for the injustices I had done him and Klassen. He even claimed that I had agreed to his handing down all orders in future, and these I would obey. He added other, similar falsehoods. Even one of the men who had witnessed our discussion, a preacher himself, went about the community insisting he had been present when I had asked Warkentin’s forgiveness. The uproar now became general, truth and falsehood were indistinguishable one from another, and even preachers were not ashamed to spread false tales that they had embroidered. I then appealed to the other Elders, asking them to make vigorous efforts on behalf of the community’s well-being so that peace could be restored by the time State Counsellor Hahn arrived. My efforts and honest intentions to maintain the community’s respectable image were misinterpreted and maliciously depicted as my fear of punishment. And so, as I tried to maintain the community’s well-being, I was almost completely overwhelmed by anguish. When I realized that I could accomplish nothing, even among persons from whom I had expected more appropriate attitudes, I calmed myself with the agreeable conviction that I had not committed sins detrimental to the community nor acted to the disadvantage of any of its members. I could, moreover, remain calm knowing that I had done my utmost to carry out my intentions of establishing peace. I needed not fear any lingering pangs of conscience. State Counsellor v. Hahn arrived in Prishib first, and I was invited to appear before him. Jacob Dyck from Khortitsa had told him in great detail about some of the discontent in our community with the intention of whetting Mr. Hahn’s curiosity. Dyck tried to depict the many improvements made on the Molochnaia in a way to arouse the State Counsellor’s aversion and disgust. In so doing he used all of his powers of persuasion to represent Warkentin’s matter as justifying support. For example, when State Counsellor v. Hahn asked

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whether the villages looked better on the Molochnaia than those in Khortitsa, Dyck replied that externally things looked very much better but internally matters were very much worse. Discord reigned, to the misfortune of the settlement. When State Counsellor Hahn told him that Warkentin was interfering in worldly matters that it was not appropriate for him to do, Dyck expressed astonishment and said that he had nothing to do with the Molochnaia people and that Warkentin seldom visited him. When the State Counsellor asked whether he had been there recently, Dyck admitted that he had but added that he himself did not meddle in such matters and was unfamiliar with them. Then he took out a piece of paper he had prepared to pass on to the State Counsellor when an opportunity arose, telling him that Warkentin had left this harsh communication, and gave it to the State Counsellor. The communication from the Ohrloff church congregation expressed its anguish about the obstinate discontent that occured in the Warkentin congregation almost every year, and about the above-mentioned instance when a large part of the three other congregations agreed with the Warkentin congregation. The basis of our Mennonite faith requires peace and obedience. However, even church teachers in these congregations were taking part in the discontent and disobedience, either because they were weak or because they felt the same way and were unfaithful to Mennonite belief and acting contrary to it. The Ohrloff congregation expressed this in its communication. At the appropriate time they would notify the authorities about the identity of the instigators of the discontent and of the opposition to legitimate order. When the State Counsellor had read the communication, he told Jacob Dyck that he did not find it too harsh and Dyck remained silent. During the State Counsellor’s journey through the Molochnaia [German] colonist settlements, people there told him in detail about the ferment among the Mennonites and about Warkentin’s intentions and what he was trying to achieve. When Warkentin had recently travelled to Khortitsa, he told his friends among the [German] colonists about his intentions and about his reasons for going to Khortitsa. From Prishib, the State Counsellor followed his plan to first inspect the Mariupol and Berdiansk settlements and then to visit the Molochnaia Mennonites, travelling through the villages after arriving in Pastwa. Along the way, a former church teacher who was

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commissioned by the Elders apparently made a submission to the State Counsellor, requesting a conference of all of the Mennonite church Elders. After two church Elders in Rudnerweide insistently requested it, the State Counsellor agreed and asked them to set a place and time for it. It is not known what the Elders’ purpose was in wanting an interview with the State Counsellor, nor what they hoped to achieve. This will remain a secret for every secular person. At the conference in Halbstadt, the State Counsellor spoke to them as a statesman about things the Elders could not possibly have wished to hear, things contrary to the actions that some of them had supported and furthered. The State Counsellor also invited me to take part in this conference but I replied with a polite request that I be spared from taking part, saying simply that it was contrary to my principles. As a member of the community I had honestly and honourably attempted everything I could do, to no avail. I had not been successful. The Elders now anticipated that the whole matter could not possibly turn out as they wished. Therefore they attempted to set conditions and make agreements with which they knew I could not agree without cooperation from a senior administrator. I also felt that I had done my duty, and decided not to take any more steps towards a peaceful conclusion. They should have acted more intelligently and honourably, and taken a more Christian attitude when I offered them my hand in an attempt to establish peace without any personal designs. As chairman, appointed and confirmed by the administration, I now requested fair protection and support for my actions, asking for the necessary arrangements to permit me to carry out my duties without disruption in future. After the conference was held, the State Counsellor informed me that Warkentin had been revealed as a brazen liar and harmful person. At this same gathering, his misdeeds were depicted in the presence of the other Elders who were convinced of them. He was not worthy to occupy his position as a person useful to the community and the state, and was removed. The State Counsellor added that if I were to notice that Warkentin or any other member of his congregation were attempting to provoke rebellion against his removal or were behaving defiantly and disobediently, that person should be delivered to the Inspector for legal proceedings. The members of the Warkentin congregation should be left to vote, deciding whether they wished to divide themselves

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and join the other congregations under their Elders, or whether they wished to divide themselves into two or three separate congregations. Each congregation would elect an Elder. All further events should be reported to him. The removal of Warkentin from his position caused [members of] his congregation, almost without exception, to fall into great sorrow. Their reaction could not have been otherwise. They had, after all, lost their spiritual teacher, comforter, admonisher, and punisher, all the legitimate responsibilities of an Elder according to the Mennonite confession of faith. Had they not lost the protective angel they imagined to have had in Warkentin, their sorrow would not have been so general. Every time they had done something bad or committed a disobedient or vicious act that subjected them to temporal punishment, they had gone to their protector. They could not hope to replace their loss. Convinced of his powers of divine inspiration, Warkentin’s congregation believed that it had no obligations to any administrative authority. Members of the congregation had not believed that the way Warkentin was acting could damage the whole community and that he could be removed. They are still under the delusion that perhaps God will lead them along such a marvellous path that will permit Warkentin to function again as their congregation’s Elder. Hoping that this might happen, they had not carried out their promise to elect two Elders for the Lichtenau and Margenau congregations within a month. They had elected only one for Margenau and left the other position vacant for Warkentin. The reasons for Warkentin’s removal had not been sufficiently emphasized. As a result, rebellious Mayor Thun had not carried out legal directives and he has persuaded his village community to take a disobedient attitude until they receive a response to their written request asking for the reasons for Warkentin’s removal. In that communication they stated that they never felt or understood Warkentin to be an unjust man in his actions as Elder. With fear and hope, they are looking for means to retain Warkentin as Elder. At the same time they have forgotten their love for their fellow man, their obedience to God and to the authorities, and also that obedience is better than sacrifice. They rely on their numbers, depending on the size of their congregation to show their mass strength, as they show defiance by exercising their rights and by practising revenge. These are the fruits born from the seeds sown by Warkentin for twenty years. He is reaping bitterness, and a nagging worm besets his conscience.

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670. Agricultural Society to Evgeny F. Hahn. 18 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-906/17.76 State Counsellor v. Hahn from Chairman, In preparing the reports I must make to Yr. Excellency regarding the former Warkentin congregation, I have the honour to inform you that, according to a report of 7 October from the preacher, H. Neufeld, the Lichtenau congregation, on 22 September 1842, elected as Elder the Preacher Dirk Warkentin of Petershagen with a majority of votes. On 29 September, the Pordenau congregation elected as its Elder Preacher N. Toews of Pordenau Village with a majority of votes. The names of villages and church members belonging to each congregation have not yet been determined. Preacher Neufeld therefore requests that the congregations be permited to delay this declaration until the two newly elected church Elders have been formally ordained, established, and installed in their offices according to Mennonite church practices. As for the future calm, peace, and obedience of these congregations, this seems to be progressing as hoped. Nothing can be heard or observed that might suggest future discontent in these congregations. Warkentin is living a retired life in his house in Altonau and receives no visits. Thun is similarly quiet. One senses that many members find the actions of these men abhorrent and are remorseful about them. They seem ashamed to face others with an open, uninhibited countenance, which is quite natural and will only change with time. We therefore firmly hope that the peace and brotherly love, disrupted and disturbed by Warkentin for the past twenty years in so hurtful a manner, will soon be restored on the basis of the Mennonite faith. The guarantees for this occurring are the good intentions of so many positively inclined members of the former Warkentin congregation. 671. Agricultural Society to Guardianship Committee. Undated [after 20 October 1842]. SAOR 89-1-1005/9. From Society to the Guardianship Committee, The Society received sixty copies of the printed circular, “Directions for Improving Agriculture in the Southern Russian Colonies,” sent with 76 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686.

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the Guardianship Committee’s directive No. 6231 of October 1842. On 20 October, it distributed one copy of this circular to each local village office and, in order to engage their cooperation, to each member of this Society and of the District Office. In performing its duty, the Society will faithfully and zealously endeavour to ensure that attention will not be limited to reading the directions, but that they will also be followed as carefully as the Guardianship Committee wishes, to the settlers’ advantage and to the increase of their well-being. 672. Johann Cornies to village offices. 22 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-813/33.77 To village offices from Ohrloff to Rosenort, from Altonau to Schoenau, from Tiegenhagen to Ladekopp. According to a decision by the Guardianship Committee, the Hutterian Mennonites are to receive sufficient grain from the Molochnaia Mennonite storage granaries to tide them over until their harvest in 1843. Until further decisions have been made, the village offices are directed to make temporary arrangements for Hutterite Mennonite families in need of such help, in the considered opinion of village offices. They should receive a loan of a half chetvert, level measure, of rye per family from the inhabitants with whom they are now living. This grain will later be returned to these householders from the village granaries. Village offices must immediately report to the Society who, by name, received this grain and how much they received. 673. Peter Neumann to Daniel Unrau and Peter Flaming. 23 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-864/4. On 23 October 1842, the Widow Horn’s curators, Daniel Unrau and Peter Flaming, inhabitants of Aleksanderthal village and Jacob Neumann, fullholder in the same village, met in the Village Office and agreed that fullholder Neumann will pay the curators fifty-five rubles,

77 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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thirty kopeks in cash annually to support the above-mentioned Widow Horn as long as she lives. In return, anything that should be paid out to various sources by the hearthsite’s current owner Neumann according to the contract made 1 March 1821 now lapses and all points in the contract are hereby totally annulled. Neumann pledges to pay the above-mentioned sum, fifty-five rubles, thirty kopeks annually in three instalments, one third (that is eighteen rubles, forty-three and one third kopeks) on 20 May, another third on 20 September and the last third on 20 November, without delay. 674. Undertaking of Jacob Neumann. 23 October 1842. SAOR 89-1-864/5. On 23 October 1842, I, Jacob Neumann, the undersigned fullholder from Aleksanderthal village, provide my signature and obligate myself to pay Daniel Unrau and Peter Flaming, inhabitants of the same village and curators for Widow Horn, the forty-five rubles, thirty kopeks in cash still owing to Widow Horn for this year, 1842. This should be paid punctually by 20 May 1843 without opposition. 675. [Johann Cornies] to Bergthal administrators. 28 October [1842?]. SAOR 89-1-813/35. District Chairman and the Society, Immediately after this is received and as soon as I leave here, the District Chairman is obligated to hold a meeting in company with the Society to discuss arrangements I have made and directives I have given. Decisions must be reached on what should first be undertaken to proceed step by step in carrying out these directives promptly among the inhabitants, as I ordered. Before anything else is done, however, the District Chairman in company with the Society must measure correctly and accurately, on site, those places I have designated for forest-tree plantations at the villages of Bergthal, Heubuden, Schoenfeld, and Schoenthal. A sketch should be prepared for each according to the enclosed draft form, including a description. By December, these should be sent in as a report, signed by the District Chairman and all of the Society’s members, that I can submit to the Guardianship Committee for its examination and confirmation.

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676. [Johann Cornies] to Mariupol administrators. 28 October [1842?]. AOR 889-1-813/35v. District Office and the Society, Having inspected villages in the Mariupol District in response to a commission from the high authorities, I have given orders that the fullholdings be improved and the dissemination of plantings in these villages be promoted. I expect the District Office and the Society to carry out their responsibilites zealously, not neglecting anything that will contribute to the advancement of their inhabitants. By 1 December they should report to me on the extent to which my orders and directives can be carried out by the District Office and the Society this fall. This I am obliged to report to the Guardianship Committee. 677. Johann Cornies to Bergthal Settlement administrators. 28 October [1842?]. SAOR 89-1-813/36. To the Bergthal District Office, No Khortitsa or Molochnaia Mennonites, or other persons, are permitted to possess land, hearthsites, or cottager plots in the Bergthal settlement district. However, foreigners able to pursue a trade other than field cultivation and animal breeding to the advantage of the community or who wish to establish other useful arrangements, are allowed to rent land for a limited period of ten years, and may establish a residence and conclude a contract to this effect with the community. The District Office should ensure that no disorderly, indolent, and extremely poor Mennonites from the Khortitsa District are permitted to settle in the Bergthal District. All Mennonites who wish to resettle from Khortitsa must have sufficient funds and the ability to give dependable guarantees that, within a two-year period after their settlement, they will have completed their dwelling, barn, threshing floor, and fences according to regulations. The District Office should put out tenders in the appropriate places and make an effort to hire a good, orderly secretary for the District Office. 678. [Johann Cornies] to Mariupol Mennonite District Office. 28 October [1842]. SAOR 89-1-813/37. To the Mariupol Mennonite District Office and the Society for Foresttree and Orchard cultivation, Sericulture, and Viticulture,

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In response to commission number 3189 from the Guardianship Committee of Colonies in Southern Russia, I hereby order the District Office and the Society to issue the following regulations and carry out the following improvements respecting economic arrangements in the Mariupol Mennonite District: 1. Hearthsite yards belonging to fullholders of no fewer than 3600 square sazhen each, are to be measured and enclosed by a ditch. 2. If conditions permit, one cottager plot 1200 square sazhen in size can be measured off and assigned to every hearthsite. 3. According to paragraph six, section eighty of the Directive, dwellings must be built of stone, fired bricks, or air-dried bricks. Rough-hewn wood or half-timbering are no longer permitted. If stones are available in the vicinity, the foundation must be at least a foot and a half high at the point where the slope of the land is highest and the foundation is lowest. 4. A fullholding dwelling is not permitted to be shorter than forty fut or narrower than twenty-eight fut. The interior of all new houses must be no less than nine fut high from floor to ceiling. Windows must be four fut high and two fut, eight inches above the floor. 5. All hay and straw stacks, pig pens and similar structures on the east side or behind buildings must be removed to ensure that there is nothing behind the line of buildings that might prevent the regular planting of trees. 6. Trees must be located no more than two fathoms from the middle of the boundary or the ditch between yards. A mulberry hedge with stems no further than a fut apart must be planted along the boundary. 7. The trees in fruit orchards should alternate between stone fruit and seed fruit and only be planted in regulation setting trenches one fathom wide. 8. The distance between individual trees should be two and a half fathoms in a straight line so that a seed-fruit tree may be situated at every five fathoms. 9. Wild pear trees or krushkii should be planted within orchards along streets. 10. Poplars or willows should be planted at all dams and other common arrangements in lowlands. 11. Since enclosures are the primary feature promoting tree growth, the area where trees will be planted must first be enclosed by ditches or fences.

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12. The District Office and the Society must give urgent attention to building fences along streets. Gates should be included. 13. The District Office and the Society must, without delay, assign spots to dump ashes and manure on each hearthsite. Householders should remove and dispose of ashes and manure at a spot designated by the village and absolutely not along dams or near water. 14. For the time being, the District Office and the Society must designate places to water livestock in ravines and low areas. They may simply be spots where it is possible to contain water in pools and ponds. 15. Fullholders and cottagers should maintain cleanliness in and around their houses. Anyone neglecting this responsibility is deemed to be a careless and slovenly fullholder or cottager. 16. When a fullholder sells his cottager plot, the purchaser and all further owners are obligated to pay a half silver ruble each year to the village community in addition to their other payments and taxes. 17. Wooden chimneys are not permitted. Proper chimneys must be built of fired brick. Tobacco may not be smoked on streets or near places with easily flammable objects and materials. 679. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 4 November [1842?]. SAOR 889-1-813/42. State Counsellor v. Hahn, During my inspection of the Mariupol Mennonite District, I became aware that: 1. Wealthy Khortitsa and Molochnaia Mennonites belonging to the tradesman class are attempting to purchase well-situated locations in perpetuity from village communities in this District for very low prices. This could put inhabitants at a great disadvantage in future, leaving no suitable places for new tradesmen to establish themselves when population grows and economic levels rise. To prevent this, I have directed the Mariupol Mennonite District Office to order that all purchases made by Khortitsa and Molochnaia Mennonites be repealed and that no similar purchases be permitted in future. No outside Mennonites have the right to own land in this district. However, to establish useful trades under present conditions, the community may permit Mennonites from outside to lease plots in Mariupol district villages for a limited time of no more than ten years.

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2. The presence of many poor householders in villages will make it very difficult to build and develop them economically. Schoenthal village has the largest number of such persons. The Khortitsa community has acted unfairly in admitting many poor householders to settlements in the Mariupol district, including many indolent persons who can never develop the effective management needed for an orderly fullholding, even under conditions of detailed and stern supervision. For this reason, I have directed the District Office to ensure that absolutely no very poor, disorderly, or indolent Mennonites from the Khortitsa district be permitted to settle in the Mariupol Mennonite District. The Mariupol District Office should inform the Khortitsa settlement that Mariupol Mennonites are duty-bound to build proper dwellings, barns, granaries, and necessary fences for their use and to make good economic arrangements. In accordance with the written guarantees they have made, guarantors should be sternly reminded to have settlers in the Mariupol Mennonite District construct their buildings in accordance with regulations. Since I doubt, however, that the Khortitsa District Office will take the measures legitimately required in this situation, I urgently ask Yr. Excellency to emphatically order the Khortitsa District Office in this regard. The guarantors for Mariupol Mennonite settlers who pay no further attention to the welfare of their poor brethren once they have given their guarantee, must not be permitted to put off providing the needed help in completing the building required during this summer and in assisting in the setting up of their establishments. Please inform me of this matter so that, acting together with the Mariupol Mennonite District Office, I can ensure that the guarantors properly build and make other arrangements for these poor settlers. In fact, I anticipate that these Mennonites will evidence the best intentions once order and the correct leadership has been firmly established. Indeed, after only a few years, these Mennonites will have made visible progress in their household arrangments and their conditions will flourish. 3. The District Office needs a secretary. They would like to hire Wilhelm Penner, the apprentice secretary in the Khortitsa Mennonite District Office, and the inquiries I have made suggest that he would be most suitable for this position. I would therefore ask that Yr. Excellency graciously order the Khortitsa District Office to have this apprentice secretary be released for employment with the Mariupol Mennonite District Office, specifically by 1 January 1843. Written work in the Mariupol

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District Office cannot easily be done without him. Even I cannot carry out my instructions appropriately among Mariupol Mennonites. 680. Johann Cornies to [Guardianship] Committee. 4 November [1842]. SAOR 89-1-813. [Unsigned draft:] From Chairman ... Committee, In carrying out directive No. 3189 of 3 June from the Guardianship Committee, I have the honour to report that, on 2 November, I completed my inspection of the four villages in the Berdiansk district and the four villages in the Mariupol Mennonite District. I began by giving the orders necessary to improve fullholdings and households in these villages. I sent the necessary directives to the District Offices and also the Societies for the Advancement and Dissemination of Forest-Trees, Orchards, Sericulture, and Viticulture. They are intended to serve as rules for the step-by-step advancement and improvement of the household, field, and orchard economies in these villages. I have the honour to submit a copy of these directives to the Guardianship Committee to enable it issue appropriate instructions. I also designated locations suitable for forest-tree plantations at each of the eight villages, and taught the Societies how to measure and divide up these plantations. To make suitable sketches of the plantations I provided each one with a design they might follow. I will not fail to submit these to the Guardianship Committee for confirmation. 681. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 4 November 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/170. State Counsellor v. Steven, Yr. Honour’s communication No. 402 of 28 August 1839 specifies that, as a result of a decision made by His Excellency, the Minister of State Domains, I was permitted to present to the Ministry the names of peasants assigned to me who excelled in the learning of practical agriculture so that they might be released from military service. I have learned that in the current recruitment of soldiers the administration in Melitopol Uezd would like to call up for military service Pavel Shkurko, a crown apprentice from the village of Tokmak, as supposedly the most capable member of his family for this

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purpose. I humbly request that Yr. Honour take the necessary measures to prevent this recruitment, since the apprentice has proven himself to be one of the most capable individuals in learning agriculture, as you can see clearly from the records submitted to Yr. Honour last June. I have, at the same time, sent the Tavrida State Domains administration the necessary notification. 682. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 6 November [1842]. SAOR 89-1-813/46. [Unsigned draft] State Counsellor v. Hahn, In villages in the Berdiansk District, spaces assigned for inhabitants’ yards, or hearthsites, are badly located and too small to permit an orderly economy to develop and to accommodate the required agricultural buildings, granaries for produce, hay, and straw, as well as other structures required in agriculture. These unsuitably assigned locations can still be changed and enlarged on almost all of the individual hearthsites in question. Only a few individual village householders have already proceeded with the arrangement of their yards, and even these can eventually be enlarged and improved. To carry on an orderly establishment on sixty desiatinas of land, the yard space for household buildings and other necessary agricultural arrangements cannot be smaller than an area of 900 to 1200 square sazhen of land, depending on what a location permits. A yard must be set up in such a way that the agriculturalist can comfortably situate and construct the buildings required for agriculture at minimal cost. This is absolutely essential and must be one of the first major requirements for the good management of a fullholding. I think it necessary to obediently submit this matter of the unsuitable assignment of yard spaces in the Berdiansk villages to Yr. Excellency. At the same time, I request that Yr. Excellency graciously permit the enlargement of yard spaces that allow for a more suitable assignment under these circumstances. For a better understanding of the specific situation, I enclose a sketch of a good hearthsite and how it should be arranged. I humbly request that a direct order be sent to the Berdiansk District Office and its Society, that all hearthsites or yard spaces be arranged according to the enclosed plan, where possible. Eventually all yard spaces set up according to the earlier design must be rearranged following this plan.

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683. Heinrich Neufeld to Johann Cornies. 7 November 1842. SAOR 89-1-837/8.78 To the Corresponding Member of the Learned Committee in the Ministry of State Domains, Johann Cornies, Ohrloff, I discharge the commission you gave me by submitting a register of the number of members incorporated into each of the three church districts, including their villages, as well as summaries. Heinrich Neufeld, Preacher of the Lichtenau congregation Rosenort, 7 November 1842. [Marked:] Report to State Counsellor v. Hahn, 17 November 1842 684. Three pages listing numbers of church members. 7 November 1842. SAOR 89-1-837/9-10.79 Record of the individual members who have joined the congregation of Elder Dietr. Warkentin in Lichtenau: Rosenort, 39 m. 34 f. both genders 73 Blumenort 31 m. 29 f. both genders 60 Tiege 21 m. 16 f. both genders 37 Ohrloff 22 m., 21 f. both genders 43 Althenau (he says Altona) 38 m. 36 f. both genders 74 Muensterberg, 37 m. 39 f. both genders 76 Blumstein 64 m. 66 f. b.g.130 Lichtenau 60 m. 53. f. b.g.113 Lindenau 57 m. 52 f. b.g. 109 Fischau 57 m. 59 f. b.g. 116 Schoenau 26 m. 24 f. b.g. 50 Tiegenhagen 41 m. 35 f. b.g.76 Munthau 47 m. 43 f. gb. 90 Halbstadt 46 m. 40 f. b.g. 86

78 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686. 79 Regarding the Warkentin affair, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 148, 154, 159, 162, 174, 520, 541, 542, 543, 544, 552, 563, 685, 589, 590, 591, 593, 596, 598, 599, 611, 612, 615, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 661, 664, 669, 670, 683, 684, 686. The list of names is not extant.

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Petershagen 44 m. 41 f. b.g. 85 Ladekopp 26 m. 22 f. b.g. 48 Total: 656 m. 610 f. b.g. 1266 Record of the individual members added to Elder Heinrich Wienz in Gnadenheim: Margenau 70 m. 63 f. b.g. 133 Gnadenfeld 1 m. 1. f. b.g. 2 Prangenau 26 m. 26 f. b.g. 52 Neukirch 29 m. 37 f. b.g.66 Lichtfelde 38 m. 33 f. b.g.71 Tiegerweide 45 m. 50 f. b.g. 95 Rueckenau 32 m. 34 f. b.g.66 Fuerstenwerder 63 m. 55 f. b.g.118 Alexanderwohl 4 m. 7 f. b.g. 11 Gnadenheim 44 m. 47 f. b.g. 91 Friedensdorf 28 m. 26 f. b.g. 54 Landskone 37 m. 38 f. b.g. 75 Fuerstenau 38 m. 40 f. b.g 78 Schoensee 45 m. 46 f. b.g. 91 Liebenau 24 m. 23 f. b.g. 47 Wernersdorf 44 m. 48 f. b.g. 92 Waldheim 7 m. 9 f. b.g.16 Total 575 m. 583 f. b.g 1138 Record of the individual members added to Elder Heinrich Toews Pordenau Pordenau 41 m. 41 f. b.g.82 Schardau 2 m. 2. f. b.g.4 Alexanderthal 7 m. 7 f. b.g. 14 Elizabetthal 38 m. 43 f. b.g. 81 Gnadenfeld 1m. 1 f. b.g. 2 Konteniusfeld 48 m. 46 f. b.g. 94 Sparau 59 m. 59 f. b.g. 118 Rudnerweide 9 m. 8 f. b.g. 17 Grosweide 25 m. 20 f. b.g. 45 Franzthal 7 m. 6 f. b.g. 13 Pastwa 19 m. 19 f. b.g. 38 Marienthal 52 m. 51 f. b.g. 103 Total: 308 m. 303 f. b.g. 611

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685. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 7 November 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/171v. State Counsellor v. Steven, I have been unable to answer your communication of 6 October earlier because I was away from home. Nor can I report more fully about this matter now because I still lack a summary of the different agricultural products for this year. I have requested this information from the District Office but it has not yet been completely recorded and some of it has not yet been received from the villages. No new apprentices have yet been sent to me. And as far as I know, no master craftsman is ready to build the desired wagon because it would have to be delivered to Simferopol. To suggest improvements, the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers has commissioned me to inspect fullholdings in Berdiansk Uezd and those of Mennonites in Mariupol Uezd. There is a shortage of mulberry trees in these villages. Please send me a considerable quantity of mulberry seed this winter. I will send you the desired cheeses to Simferopol as soon as I can. Our weather is damp this fall, but comfortably warm. Winter rye is growing splendidly everywhere, the steppe grass is green and livestock are finding enough pasture. A settler in Berdiansk Uezd insistently requests esparcet seed from me, claiming that he planted and grew this fodder plant in Germany and knows how to handle it. If you can, please send me some esparcet seed for this man. With complete esteem and devotion, I remain Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 686. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 11 November 1842. SAOR 89-1-864/1.80 State Counsellor Hahn, On 7 November, Preacher Heinrich Neufeld reported that the recently elected church Elders, Dirk Warkentin in Petershagen and Heinrich Toews in Pordenau, have been properly confirmed as church Elders

80 Ibid.

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and ordained. The former Warkentin congregation has been divided into three separate church congregations as follows: the Lichtenau congregation with Elder Dirk Warkentin has 1266 members of both sexes; the Margenau congregation with Elder Heinrich Wiens has 1158 [members]; and the Pordenau congregation with Elder Heinrich Toews has 611 [members]. Calm has now been fully restored, thank God, and not the slightest trace of discontent or disobedience is noticeable. Everyone continues to live and work “peacefully under his vines and his fig trees,” as demanded by our Mennonite confession of faith. Without equivocating, I can give you, Yr. Excellency, the happy assurance that during the twenty years that Warkentin has functioned as Elder of the congregation we have never experienced such calm and ready obedience. The Molochnaia Mennonites cannot thank you enough for this situation, most worthy State Counsellor. We will never forget Yr. marked sympathy for the fortunes of the Molochnaia Mennonite brotherhood and Yr. efforts and active zeal in establishing a lasting peace and quiet for our descendants. Only in this way can the enlightenment, the blossoming of our industries, and the enduring well-being of our villages be attained. 687. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 12 November 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/173v. State Counsellor v. Steven, We thank you for the hawthorn seeds that accompanied Yr. Honour’s communication of 30 October. I have already received as much madder seed as I need from the [German] colonist plantation as well as roots for sprouting. The quality of the butter is so poor before cows calve, that I will not be able to fill your order before the New Year. With the most complete esteem, Yr. Honour’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 688. Johann Cornies to David Reimer. 18 November 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/174. To David Reimer, Felsenthal, The Blumenort village community will pick up the white poplars we discussed. Please release them for an immediate cash payment. Please

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ensure that they have the highest stems possible (more than three arshins), are straight and of the same approximate size. You or your son should be present during the digging to ensure that the roots are damaged as little as possible. Please do your utmost. I remain, with love, your friend, Johann Cornies. 689. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 26 November 1842. SAOR 89-1-865/16. Dear Mr. Cornies, I have received your letter of 12 November and an earlier one dated 7 November. The mulberry seed will be sent with the next mail, but I have no esparcet seed on hand. It costs ten rubles per pud from Wagner in Riga. I seeded esparcet several years ago, but it has been almost entirely choked out by weeds. I much prefer lucerne (Medicago sativa). Even abroad, esparcet is cultivated on high, unfruitful heath soils, lucerne on better ones. Please pass on the two booklets to Ens and Wiebe. There is still no decision from the Ministry about the items I ordered in summer. You should be able to get rid of the other booklets easily enough. We can complete the accounts when shipping is done. For now, I thank you for the butter and cheese that I expect to receive when Mr. Shishko returns. He has probably visited you already. We continue to have mild weather, with only a little snow once. Your respectful C. Steven. 690. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 29 November 1842. SAOR 89-1-865/15. Dear Mr. Cornies, Recently the Inspector for Agriculture received a description of the Hohenheim agricultural establishment, generally recognized as the most exceptional in all of Germany. I forward the book to you in the knowledge that you will enjoy reading it but on condition that you return it to me. Should you want a copy yourself, I will order one from Riga. Because your own agricultural establishment can be recognized as a model for the whole of southern Russia, it would be highly desirable if you could find time to prepare a description of it, even if it is shorter.

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691. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 3 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/175. State Counsellor v. Hahn, Please forgive me for not visiting you in Odessa in November, as I had promised. I was ready to leave during the first half of the month, but then decided otherwise because I felt duty-bound to first inspect the villages in our local uezd. I also spent eleven days trying to make up for my neglect of economic matters, encouraged in these efforts by the zeal and willingness of the inhabitants to improve their holdings. To this latter end I also made time for a joint meeting of the Society and the District Office, which decided that we should work together in pushing forward new initiatives. In this way, the winter months have been used to instruct and improve our fullholdings and other village establishments as preparation for treading an appropriate path in spring. Much activity is evident on every hand and my house is daily besieged by persons seeking advice and instruction. It gives me great pleasure to assure you that the Molochnaia Mennonite villages are eager to improve their fullholdings in an enlightened way. I hope that Yr. Excellency will be able to see evidence of this during your inspection tour in spring. I will try to implement all of the directives you have given me and report to you in this regard by mail as soon as possible. I hope to have the honour to personally attend upon Yr. Excellency in Odessa right after the New Year. With constant esteem and devotion, I endeavour to remain Yr. Excellency’s respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 692. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 3 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-901/14.81 I have the honour to report obediently to the [Guardianship] Committee that all Radishchev Mennonites have migrated to the Molochnaia Mennonite villages in good health and well-being and have been accommodated in quarters assigned to them. I have seen to it that they

81 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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have seeded thirty-one chetvert of winter rye. By spring, they will have divided off seventy desiatinas in a regular pattern on their new steppeland parcel No. 15, assigned to them for settlement. They should be able to plough it deeply and prepare it well. I have selected a good site to establish the first thirty houses of their village, a location that enables them to use the land well. It is about four verstas from the Tashchenak ravine in a flat hollow on land assigned to them. The planning was done on site. Enclosed is a map of the village, with yards for thirty fullholders divided off, that I submit for examination to the Guardianship Committee. I also include an explanation of the change made for these [Hutterite] Mennonites in the way they situate their houses, not with the gable end facing the street, as in most of our villages in Southern Russia, but with their sides along the street, which is better for the layout of this particular village. Specifically, there will be rooms on both ends of the house, with the kitchen and entranceway in the middle. The houses will be no less than seven fathoms long and at least four fathoms wide. This will give the village a good appearance, and make the houses more comfortable. Because [Hutterite] families are large and mainly consist of professional craftsmen, they will need more interior walls to practise their craft or profession. Barns, granaries, and the other agricultural buildings on the yards can then be separated from the dwelling and built as indicated on the drawings for hearthsite No. 30. To prevent the rapid spread of fires, the buildings will not be built under one roof. With the agreement of the Radishchev Mennonites, I have given this newly founded village the name Hutterthal, which attests to its origins. In the future, this will possibly serve historians as evidence of its origins. I would request an early confirmation, if the Guardianship Committee finds my plan for settling the Radishchev Mennonites acceptable, and the village name suitable. There should also be a directive specifying that these Mennonites will be called Hutterthal Mennonites in all future books, documents, etc. 693. C. Steven to Johann Cornies. 11 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-865/11. Very valued Mr. Cornies, The Third Department of the Ministry of State Domains has requested information about the success of manuring in the southern provinces,

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particularly in the Mennonite villages. Here in the Crimea, manuring is almost never done on the steppes. Still, I know of several cases where it was done with great success, as is to be expected. Among agriculturalists in the mountains, however, manuring is practised by many agriculturalists, especially in the western part. Colonists and Russians who cultivate potatoes manure their fields regularly, some also when sowing grain. Many Tatars do this as well. For a few years now, the latter have also begun to use their ash as fertilizer. I do not know how much is spread on the fields, only that this is done before sowing and not on grain that has already come up. As far as I can remember, manure is only used for potatoes on the Molochnaia and grain is not sown on these fields. Please give me detailed information about manuring in your region. How often are potato fields manured and are they then sown with grain, etc. Also, is the manure from a regular fullholding sufficient for the fields if it is also used as fuel? Is manuring done in other villages as well and for what crops? Is manuring practised by some Russian nobles or peasants? We have had an unusually mild autumn without frost during the day until yesterday, when we were hit by a strong northeast wind. The thermometer dropped to minus four and a half degrees and we had frost during the day as well. This autumn was better for the agriculturalist, but most of the countryside has been devastated by a severe cattle plague. Many villages have lost 200 to 300 head of livestock. I have been fortunate. The plague has not broken out on my property, but it rages in the area around me. Let me know whether Shishko has visited you yet. I have not had a letter from him for some time. As always, your respectful C. Steven. 694. Johann Cornies to District Office. 12 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/177. To the Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, In the most recent mail that arrived via Halbstadt I received a small sack of mulberry seeds from the Inspector for Agriculture v. Steven. The sack had, however, been opened and two funt were missing. I would ask the District Office to make inquiries with the postman or anyone else who may have taken receipt of it to discover whether the above-mentioned packet was damaged at the post office or later. Please let me know.

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695. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 12 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/181. Your Honour, Baron, Your communication of 27 November arrived today in good order, as did the Albanian tobacco seed kindly sent by His Excellency, Count Vorontsov. With the most complete esteem. Yr. Honour’s humble servant, Johann Cornies. 696. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 12 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/181. To the Inspector for Agriculture in the Southern Guberniias, State Counsellor v. Steven, Although the mulberry seed sent with Yr. Honour’s communication No. 1030 of 27 November arrived today, it weighed only eight and not ten funt. The bag had been damaged en route or was torn intentionally and two funt of the seeds were either lost or pilfered. I will have this investigated as far as Orekhov. Yr. Honour will forgive me for asking you to address letters and packages via Novoaleksandrovka as in the past. If they are directed to Melitopol, everything is first forwarded to Orekhov and then comes back to me through Prishib. With this detour, letters and packages often arrive damaged. As you kindly directed, immediately upon receipt I forwarded the booklets to the Mennonites Gerhard Enns and to Claas and not Abraham Wiebe. I will keep the other books, one about silk reeling and ten about mulberry planting and sericulture. Please put them on my account. I will soon remit the amount of five rubles, forty kopeks silver. Just now I received the description of the Hohenheim estate, sent at Yr. Honour’s kind direction. I will return it promptly. 697. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 13 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/182. You kindly permitted me to forward large packages and other materials relating to state matters through you in Simferopol to St. Petersburg because of the considerable costs of postage and insurance involved. Please allow the six pages enclosed of reports on the results of my diggings organized this year to reach State Counsellor v. Keppen, as

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well as the crate labelled Litt: A.K. The latter contains the human skull and other items found in the dig. Please inform His Honour that I will soon send him an invoice for the costs of workers and other expenses involved in the excavation of each mound. Excuse my boldness in exploiting your cherished kindness. With the most honest devotion. 698. Johann Cornies to [Fedor F. Rosen]. 17 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/182v. Esteemed Baron, During the past month or so, Nogais have told me about efforts to bribe investigating officials and set free the thieves who tried to rob the mails in September and half killed the postman in the process. There were also efforts to use false witnesses to find totally innocent Nogais guilty of this crime. A further case involves a Nogai who murdered his wife and immediately confessed to the deed. The investigating officials are now making light of the matter, ascribing the event to a lesser or completely innocent cause. The case turns on the alleged payment of several thousand rubles to officials involved in the investigation. The latter are said to have promised to rig the case. I had little faith in these Nogai stories, knowing full well the kinds of exaggerations and lies they often circulate. I could simply not imagine that investigating officials would perpetrate such an abominable injustice. Still, the day before yesterday, 15 December, Civil Judge Esten came to my Iushanle estate and described in detail the events involved in both investigations, without my having given him the slightest reason to do so. These accounts agreed substantially with the stories of the Nogais. He also reported that the miscreants had tried to buy him off with bribes that he had refused. The crown prosecutor had tried to reach an agreement in regard to the matter after it had been revealed, but the civil justice refused. Esten informed me that such injustice exists quite openly in two Nogai District Offices. He repeatedly begged me to describe these cases to you in the hope that you might send in an honest and dedicated official to thoroughly investigate these cases and uncover the the truth. In keeping with my duty, I have the honour to lay these cases before you for appropriate action.

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699. Johann Cornies to Fedor F. Rosen. 21 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/185v.82 Baron Rosen, I would like to make a humble request that might advance the cultivation of potatoes in the future. Might it be possible for Yr. Honour to prompt the Minister [Kiselev?] to send a letter to Mr. Andreevskii, my assistant, thanking him for his work on behalf of this project? For some time, Andreevskii has given substantial service in this endeavour. I would further recommend that Yr. Honour extend his appointment in advancing the cause of potato cultivation among the peasants. 700. Johann Cornies to General Bradkii. 21 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/184. To General v. Bradkii in St. Petersburg, Yr. Excellency, Most Gracious Sir, Grateful for their paternal government’s great benevolence towards them in their new fatherland, the Molochnaia Mennonites feel obliged to ascribe much of their flourishing condition to the honest efforts of their former Inspector for the Molochnaia, Titulary Counsellor Khariton Pelekh, who was appointed to this position almost twenty years ago. In every instance, Mr. Pelekh has consistenly and faithfully protected all righteous persons, making the undisturbed improvement of their well-being possible. This service has also been recognized by the Chief Guardian, General v. Inzov. As early as 1839, he urged the Minister for State Domains to award the Holy Order of Stanislas, Third Class, to Inspector Pelekh. When His Excellency the Count and Minister visited our villages last year, 1841, I had the good fortune to personally submit to him a request on behalf of our community, that the faithful service of Inspector Pelekh be appropriately recognized. His Excellency responded benevolently by taking note of my recommendation.

82 Regarding the potato program, see TSUS, vol. 2, n136, and docs. 357, 374–5, 377, 380, 394, 397, 417, 420, 425, 438–9, 456–7, 478, 480–1, 488, 494, 511, 514, 518, 525, 529, 540, 549–50, 559, 564, 566–8, 583, 616, 630, 635, 637, 639, 650, 665, 667, 699.

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This emboldens me to appeal to Yr. Excellency to grant Mr. Pelekh the recommended award. Since his health is beginning to suffer after years of devoted service, I would humbly ask that the distinction might graciously be awarded to him as a means of encouraging him in his further service. I make this dutiful appeal in the name of all Molochnaia Mennonites. We ask the Almighty to arm Mr. Pelekh with enduring health and husband his general well-being, so that he might long be spared to serve the state, to everyone’s blessing. With honest feelings of gratitude, I consider it to be the greatest happiness of my life to be permitted to call myself Yr. Excellency’s most respectful servant, Johann Cornies. 701. Johann Cornies to C. Steven. 22 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-802/186.83 State Counsellor v. Steven, I am pleased to report to Yr. Honour that on 17 December, two apprentices, Jacob Solopa from the village of Vasilkov and Vasily Efremov from the village of Aleksandrovskoe, arrived from the Pavlograd district, Ekaterinoslav guberniia, to learn practical agriculture. They brought along communication No. 2811 of 2 December from the Pavlograd District Domains administration. I immediately notified the Director of the Ekaterinoslav State Domains administration of their arrival and requested that, in future, arrangements be made to have more mature apprentices, seventeen or eighteen years of age, selected for this purpose. This is needed because a considerable period of time is virtually lost when children who have not attained the age of sixteen are sent to me as apprentices. Since they cannot be used for most jobs, they pass the time almost uselessly. Learning can only occur when they apply their hands to the work and do everything themselves to ensure that they learn the essential concepts needed to perform every task and to reach their desired purpose. I would therefore ask Yr. Honour to graciously make inquiries with appropriate officials to adopt measures that would indicate the ages of selected apprentices.

83 Regarding the apprenticeship program, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 186, 195, 211, 313, 317, 326, 328, 334, 340, 352, 393, 403, 443, 467, 472, 485, 571, 603, 701.

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702. Johann Cornies to Evgeny F. Hahn. 31 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-900/22.84 To State Counsellor v. Hahn, After careful consideration, it seems advisable to me that all Hutterite Mennonites be resettled at the same time next spring in Huttertal, their projected village. This I have decided to do. I would obediently request that Yr. Excellency immediately arrange to exclude from the rental lands all land assigned to the new settlers and their descendants, about 4,000 desiatinas. The land would thus be left for their free use under my leadership. This arrangement would permit a large number of able-bodied Hutterite Mennonites to occupy themselves in establishing the first thirty fullholdings and in working the portion of land assigned to them. This arrangement would permit all Hutterite Mennonite families to take immediate possession of the land together, even though a village for only thirty families is projected for next year, 1843. It would be best in my opinion if they could maintain themselves on the proceeds of the land’s expected production. This would also enable them to thrive better, more certainly and easily. 703. Johann Cornies to Guardianship Committee. 31 December 1842. SAOR 89-1-900/23.85 From Chairman to the Guardianship Committee, Communication No. 1371 of 2 January 1842 from the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia confirmed the current village Elders of the Radishchev Mennonites, Mayor Christian Waldner for the years 1842, 1843 and 1844, and Deputy Mayors Paul Hofer and Andreas Wollmann for the years 1842 and 1843. I must recognize them for their support of the well-being of the Hutterite Mennonites in all matters to the present day. More than any others, they deserve the trust of their community and of authorities for the orderly resettlement and housing of their members. They also deserve great praise for their zeal and concern in maintaining the order of their community.

84 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707. 85 Ibid.

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I therefore consider it essential for the future progress of these Mennonites that the above-mentioned Elders continue in the roles in which they have proven themselves for several years. To ensure that this settlement flourishes in future, Mayor Waldner and Deputy Mayor Wollman should be confirmed in their current offices for three years, beginning 1 January 1843 and Deputy Mayor Hofer for two years. 704. Information about Tashchenak. Undated [1842?]. SAOR 89-1-877/37. Improvements on Tashenak estate over the last four years: Built of fired brick: 1. Barn for oxen with a granary above it, seventeen and a half fut long, five and a half fut wide 2. Dwelling for the gardener seven and a half fut long, four and a half fut wide 3. Building to store fuels (dried manure) seven fut long, four and a half fut wide These three buildings were roofed with Dutch roof tiles. 4. A granary with two floors to store grain, eleven fut long, five fut wide, in which there is one coach-house, eight special sections for various agricultural uses and one vaulted cellar 5. A livestock barn fitted in the Dutch manner, eleven fut long, five fut wide for horses and cows which includes one attic for hay storage, one well with a pump, and a vaulted cellar to store feed potatoes. All of these buildings are roofed with reed thatch 6. A dwelling eleven and a half fut long, six fut wide built of masonry to the height of two and a half floors to the roof. The lowest floor is entirely vaulted. Under it, there is a vaulted cellar in four parts the entire length of the house. It will be roofed with Dutch roof tiles. 7. A Dutch roof tile firing kiln, with 25,000 well-fired tiles in stock 8. Three desiatinas of forest-tree plantings, a large part elms 9. The sheep barn of fired brick masonry is surrounded by a fence of fired brick masonry sixty fut long. 10. The sheep hospital barn of fired brick masonry is surrounded by a fired brick masonry fence forty-three fut long. 11. A fired brick building to house a threshing machine, seven fut long and four and a half fut wide

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12. Trees were planted along both sides of the two verstas long road from the post road to the estate 13. Stones to burn lime were hauled twenty-five verstas from the Molochnaia [stream] on the Doukhobor lands at Terpenie 705. Information about Iushanle. Undated [1842?]. SAOR 89-1-877/39. Improvements and extensions on Iushanle estate: 1. A fired brick dwelling for sheep herding personnel seven fut long, four and a half fut wide 2. A sheep hospital barn thirteen and a half fut long, five and a half fut wide with an attic to store fuel 3. A dwelling seven fut long, four and a half fut wide with sufficient accomodations to house the crown apprentices. Beneath these accommodations is a vaulted cellar of the same width and length 4. An ox barn seventeen and a half fut long, five and a half fut wide with one attic to store fuel All of these buildings are solidly built of fired brick and presently roofed with Polish straw roofs that will be replaced by tiled roofs. 5. In addition to the five desiatinas which were planted with a variety of forest trees and with a nursery plantation of forest trees over the past four years, forty eight elms have been planted at each of four spots on the steppe, as examples of the growth of trees on the highest and driest places. 706. Information about the Villages. Undated [1842?]. SAOR 89-1-1839/40. In villages: There are two Dutch roof-tile kilns and they cannot satisfy the demand when sold at sixty rubles for 1,000 tiles. About seventy-five tiles cover one square fathom. Several masonry fences of fired brick as examples Approximately thiry horse-driven chaff cutters Garden weeders with one wheel Several livestock barns built of fired brick The post road through the local district is being planted with trees

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707. Johann Cornies to Hutterthal Village Office. Undated [1842?]. SAOR 89-1-906/28.86 Hutterthal Village Offices and also the church leadership, This is a response to the Village Office’s permission, later suspended, to permit the engagement of Elias Kleinharr’s daughter, since this action shows little concern for the further good progress of the inhabitants of Hutterthal. Young people are misled by permission to marry in such an untimely and frivolous manner, when it is very obvious that only a miserable future can be anticipated for them. Such persons must soon become a burden to the community. I have given the Village Office orders not to permit any engagements without my special agreement for people still under guardianship or in service. Should contrary situations occur, the Village Office will be held strictly accountable. Such actions are most evidently detrimental for the Hutterthal community and the Office must not allow itself to think that I will ever permit such disorder to gain ground, even if it is necessary to resort to other more effective measures. The Village Office and the church administration must therefore make exact arrangements in this regard and not permit itself to show weakness. Otherwise, the results in every case will not be anything either the Village Office or any honest inhabitant of Hutterthal desires. The preachers must likewise act according to the generally determined rule and not unite in marriage any persons whose intentions have not been announced to the congregation on three Sundays in succession. This message is intended to inform all inhabitants about this matter, and also to prevent unhappy marriages resulting from precipitous actions. 708. Agricultural Society to Peter Goertz, Heinrich Huebert, Johann Peters, and Heinrich Wieler. Undated [1842]. SAOR 89-1-1005/24. Commission to Peter Goertz in Wernersdorf and Heinrich Huebert in Landskrone, curators confirmed by the Orphans’ Administrators for Elisabeth Huebert, Landskrone, and to Johann Peters and Heinrich Wieler, likewise of Landskrone, for Elisabeth Huebert’s daughter: 86 Regarding the Radishchev Hutterite community, see TSUS, vol. 1, doc. 530, and vol. 2, docs. 40, 146, 546, 553, 557, 629, 640, 656, 672, 692, 702, 703, 707.

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According to papers submitted by the District Office to this Society, it has been confirmed that the recently deceased unmarried Wilhelm Block from Franzthal was the father of the illegitimately born daughter of the unmarried Elisabeth Huebert from Landskrone. According to decisions made earlier in such cases, the Society has taken action to ensure the proper education of the daughter she bore Block. The mother must be paid fifteen silver rubles annually from Block’s estate, without fail, until the child reaches her tenth year of age, and ten silver rubles for the following five years, for a total of two hundred silver rubles. The confirmed guardians are to receive these monies from the designated person for their appropriate use. However, should the deceased Wilhelm Block’s daughter die before the fifteenth year of her life, the above-mentioned sum of money will remain with her mother, Elisabeth Huebert, as an uncontested possession and as partial compensation for the shame and disgrace she has suffered because of Wilhelm Block. Accordingly, the Society authorizes the curators and guardians of the abovementioned Elisabeth Huebert and her daughter to receive the specified sum of money, two hundred silver rubles, out of the estate of the unmarried deceased Wilhelm Block in Franzthal. In accordance with the purpose described above, they are to employ it according to the established rule. The results must be reported to the Society without fail. 709. List of Foreigners in Molochnaia Settlement. Undated [1842?]. SAOR 89-1-906/38. A. List of foreigners present during 1842, along with their community acceptance, who have not yet received approval for their addition to the census: Franz Doerksen, painter Johann Neufeld, rope maker Johann Rempel, weaver Jacob Neufeld, wheelwright Benjamin Schulz, weaver Peter Dueckmann, tailor Jacob Adrian, cabinet maker Johann Harder, weaver Cornelius Loepp, cabinet maker

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Herrmann Sudermann, beer and vinegar brewer Abraham Sudermann, beer and vinegar brewer Peter Dueck, miller Albrecht Fast, carpenter Heinrich Mierau, malster Johann Cornelsen, carpenter Franz Claassen, groat maker (Gruezzer) Heinrich Franz, cabinet maker B. Foreigners presented without official “acceptance” and not yet approved for addition to the census. These “acceptances” are now at the District Office: Jacob Sudermann, distiller Johann Neufeld, miller Heinrich Goerz, cabinet maker David Pauls, painter Heinrich Willms, carpenter Johann Fast, distiller Johann Rempel, miller Jacob Unger, school teacher C. Foreigners presented during the year 1842, with their application for “acceptance” included but not yet decided upon: Jacob Andreas, landowner Abraham Enns, landowner Leonhard Dueck, landowner Cornelius van Riesen, landowner Gustav Willmsen, landowner Abraham Woelke, landowner Cornelius Dueck, landowner 710. Report of progress made in agriculture and the trades during the year 1842 in the Molochnaia Mennonite District. 4 January 1843. SAOR 89-1-915. During 1842 inhabitants of the Molochnaia Mennonite settlement generally enjoyed a satisfactory state of health. A total of 335 persons died, most of them children under the age of ten. This equals two and twothirds deaths per hundred population. 588 children were born for a total population increase of 253 individuals.

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After a spring that had started pleasantly and with the promise of good crops, the summer was at first arid with only a few thunderstorms. The drought at the end of May and in early June tempered our hopes for a good harvest. Relentless warm winds dried out everything and threatened a total crop failure. The weather changed abruptly on 11 June. It became cooler with twelve cloudy and cool days in succession, allowing the ears of the almost totally dried-out stalks to fill almost completely with kernels. Harvesting began on 22 June, with wide variations from village to village. Wheat produced yields from three- to eighteen-fold, rye from four- to twelve-fold, barley from six- to twelvefold, oats from four- to twelve-fold. Although the straw is short, it contains more nourishment than did last year’s straw and serves well as livestock fodder. A surplus of twelve to fifteen thousand chetvert of wheat was shipped to Berdiansk and sold at a price of fourteen to seventeen rubles per chetvert. A not inconsiderable quantity of rye was sold at ten rubles per chetvert, barley at seven to eight rubles, and oats at six to seven rubles. In some villages the hay harvest was small but sufficient, but it was abundant in most villages. Heavy rainfalls that moistened the soil to a considerable depth in August restored livestock pastures and there were rains in late September and in October. Grains seeded in fall shot up evenly, plants formed well and steppe grass was rich and abundant. Our wool production benefited greatly from the healthy and nutritious fall pasture. Last year, approximately 20,000 desiatinas of ploughland were used for grain crops. This year field cultivation expanded by another 1000 desiatinas. The improvement in field cultivation includes careful endeavours to make it more profitable. Fertilizing with manure, including the mixing of manure with soil, was especially favourable this year and excellent yields were noticed on all fields fertilized evenly and appropriately for their soil content. Yields on fields fertilized in this way were double those on fields manured less systematically. The Society concluded that developments in field cultivation made it necessary to develop and perfect machinery geared to systematic field cultivation, with better designs and construction. Tests in various village areas have already been made. A total of 2,539 chetvert, three chetverik of potatoes were seeded and 12,362 chetvert, four chetverik were harvested, an almost fivefold harvest on average. The Society aims to enlarge the area devoted to potato cultivation and to double the yield. Potato cultivation

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contributes to advancing and improving field cultivation and leads to an improvement of individual economies. Potatoes are a major source of food for man and beast and form the basis for the production of starch, groats, and flour. Raising potatoes is clearly the best insurance against famine. As for flax, we seeded a total of seventy-five chetvert, one chetverik that produced 947 puds, thirteen and a half chetvert of flax. What we needed additionally was bought outside the district. At present flax growing is rising modestly from year to year, and should be cultivated more generally by every villager for the use of households and for outside sales. Indeed, the hands that seed, tend, and pull flax can also carry out its initial processing. [Flax for linen] employs many villagers, the aged, children, and people who are weak, sickly, and infirm and fills what might otherwise be wasted time with useful work. Labour of this kind protects the whole community from the evils of inactivity [in wintertime]. Only a few villagers now grow tobacco, but efforts are being made to promote its cultivation more generally as a future cash crop. Over the past four or five years there have been large-scale experiments with oil seed production, particularly with Chinese oil radishes [Oelrettig]. The results have been good, promising that it will thrive here, yet sales in Berdiansk have been poor and dampen further efforts in this regard. The Society strongly encourages an expansion of field cultivation as a source of income in all villages. It encourages the transformation of raw soil into more productive soil through deep and frequent ploughing and manuring. Better topsoil is at the heart of good field cultivation. No one has ever become poor by transforming unimproved soil into better soil. It is a process that can also bind a ploughman to his soil and hearth. Fruit-tree cultivation in the Molochnaia Mennonite District will undoubtedly flourish in the next ten to twenty years. Already during the past two or three years, the planting of fruit-trees and the development of nurseries has spread quickly. A year ago orchards contained 142,383 transplanted trees, a number that rose by 24,770 trees this year. Last year’s 72,351 improved trees grew by an additional 17,531 trees this year. We also have 330,770 improved wild trees in seed-nurseries, and a growing number of stone and kernel fruit trees. Preparations are under way to plant 31,184 more fruit trees this year, using setting trenches and deep-ploughing.

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This year, young trees from the the villages were marketed for 5,638 rubles, eight kopeks and several agriculturalists earned up to 200 rubles for their own trees. Although the proceeds of the sale of fruit were 2,819 rubles, sixty-one kopeks, several producers sold up to 300 rubles and more in a year that was not particularly productive. This has nevertheless encouraged other villagers to plant fruit trees and establish well-ordered orchards. To encourage the development, the Society for Fruit-tree Cultivation has designated a desiatina of land near each village house as an orchard that needs to be enclosed by living mulberry hedges. Increases in the cultivation of fruit trees are needed to supplement the income of occupants of small plots. Providing sustenance in southern regions, it also sends produce to the north where sales will grow as the variety of fruits becomes more refined. All this will encourage the development of small pieces of land in areas of population growth. Plantings have similarly increased in forest-tree plantations and other places that are low-lying or elevated. Progress was particularly important in our villages, a development that encourages the hope that low-lying and steppe-land areas can both be afforested. Trees at elevated places not only improve the air but protect grain fields from cold and hot winds. All varieties of trees thrive better if they are mixed in forest tree plantations, that is, if oaks, linden trees, maples, etc., are planted next to one another. Nor does it matter if different sorts grow at different rates, if one variety of trees is less fast-growing than another. Indeed such arrangements assuredly raise the value of neighbouring varieties as they accustom themselves to the varying extensions of their branches. Leaves from dissimilar varieties fertilize the soil better that those from a single variety. Also, different varieties of trees planted alternately protect one another against wind damage and accumulations of snow. Finally, insect damage is more extensive in unmixed than in mixed forest-tree plantations. Villagers in the district are striving to increase their forest-tree plantings. At present, tree nurseries have a total stock of 434,993 decidious and needle-bearing trees plus 126,325 mulberry trees. This year alone, 47,209 forest-trees and 31,308 mulberry trees have been added to the stock of trees in plantations. There has also been real progress in planting 62,871 mulberry saplings in hedges around the half-desiatina quartals, thus extending the hedges enclosing the tree plantations.

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The area devoted to forest trees consists of thirty-nine forest-tree plantations on 428 desiatinas of land. Of this area 162 desiatinas, 2039 fathoms have already been planted and some oaks and other hardwoods have reached a height of five arshins. The stock of trees consists of 245,856 forest trees and 144,983 mulberry trees, plus 243,848 saplings. The fortieth forest-tree plantation in this district was established at the village of Sparrau this spring and preparations are under way to begin its afforestation. Trees planted in the already mentioned low-lying areas and high places outside of the plantations number 48,113 trees. Silk production continues to expand. We expect that next year three reeling machines in the district will be unable to reel all the silk produced because sericulturists have already ordered and concluded agreements for the foliage needed [to feed silkworms]. A year ago, somewhat more than six puds of [raw] silk was produced. The total this year was eight puds, thirty-two funt, twenty-five loth, which sold for an average of ten and a half kopeks per funt on the spot. Sericulture has greatly encouraged practitioners, who have earned 300 rubles and more from the sale of their products. Sericulture has, moreover, encouraged diligence in families, providing young and old with a modest amount of work and a good income to support poor families. Should weather conditions permit and zeal for this branch of the economy grow, silk production can be expected to more than double in the coming years. As sheep breeding has expanded over the last twelve years, and become a more important source of income, horse breeding has seriously declined. In general, horses in our villages have lost their beautiful form and quality. In the past, many beautiful horses were annually sold to light and heavy cavalry units for 300 rubles and more. The terrible crop failures of 1833 and 1834, however, almost ruined our horses as attention shifted to the growth and improvement of sheep breeding. This mistake has been acknowledged and people are now determined to purchase good stallions with superior structures and form. They should be bred as good workhorses cultivating our lands and as strong, beautiful, high-stepping horses for sale to the cavalry. Horse breeding is not of secondary importance because field cultivation depends on our horses and fine horses will always command a good price in outside markets. The assured sale of a good horse that also fetches a substantial price is the best means of encouraging the agriculturalist. Their improvement can best be pursued by purchasing a few good stallions, paid for out of the community treasury. The district now has 9021

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horses, fifty-seven of which are breeding stallions. During the year 425 horses were sold for 33,284 rubles. Cattle-breeding in the Molochnaia district is concentrated on the breeding of good milk cows and the preparation of butter and cheese to meet household needs and for outside sales. This year, we sold 7426 puds, twenty-eight funt of butter for a total income of 10,663 rubles, eighty-five kopeks, and 280 puds, eight funt of cheese for 2715 rubles, forty kopeks. This was 630 puds more than a year ago. Dairying improves from year to year and the income from this branch of the economy is going up. It is a sum that can be raised threefold by eventually building and organizing dairy facilities and cellars suitable for the creaming of milk. Attention is already given to dairy facilities and six years ago the district purchased cows and bulls of East Frisian extraction that produce large quantities of milk. Once the improved progeny has multiplied and spread, dairying will blossom. Located as we are close to a port city [Berdiansk], the district will profit greatly from this trade. It may well come to occupy the fourth or even third rank among our agricultural pursuits. At present, the district has 12,353 head of livestock, of which 5609 are milk cows. The sale of 450 head of livestock generated sales totalling 20,661 rubles, ninety kopeks. The value of our livestock will more than double when milk production and the breeding of livestock increases. Agriculturalists much prefer sheep breeding because it requires little effort and returns a remarkable profit. This cannot be permitted much longer, however, since it is at the expense of other useful branches of agriculture and depletes the top layer of the steppe entirely. Poor pastures have already markedly reduced wool production, while sheep have become smaller in size. Such pastures also keep cows from delivering top-quality milk, butter, and cheese to support household economies. Moreover, scanty pasturage is leading to a decline in the strength of draft horses. As a result, because the topsoil cannot be sufficiently worked, field cultivation is suffering and grain harvests are less plentiful. Fortunately, people are starting to understand these disadvantages. The number of sheep is decreasing and efforts to increase the yield and quality of wool are under way. In 1838 the total number of sheep was about 170,000 head; in 1840 it was 152,000 head; at present it is only 100,905 head. The wool sold for a total of 226,615 rubles, fifteen kopeks. From year to year, our villages are growing more beautiful, with trees planted along streets and elsewhere. Generally, newer, more beautiful,

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tastefully appointed, and fire-proof houses are rising in every village, including structures for dairying. This year twenty-five dwellings, five barns, one school-house, and one granary were built of fired brick and nine dwellings were roofed with Dutch roof-tiles. Twenty-four dwellings, twenty-six barns, and ten granaries were constructed of other durable materials. A lively interest in beautiful, durable, and purposeful objects has also given the crafts new life. Twelve brick kilns have produced 1,319,800 good bricks this year, of which 554,000 were sold. The three Dutch rooftile kilns have manufactured 51,119 roof tiles, selling 43,119 of them. This year, seven [tread] mills were built according to a new method where horses are driven over wheels and cylinders. Each processes forty puds of the finest barley flour daily, giving each miller a daily profit of six rubles. In October, the cloth factory that burned down in Halbstadt in 1839 began to function again, with six looms and the required machinery.87 It employs forty-four persons. The district has eighty-eight threshing machines and thirty-eight chaff-cutters. Most are driven by horses, and four by people. Flax-spinning and linen weaving occupy 2,670 persons. Professional tradesmen are all overloaded with work orders that enable them to escape the difficult situation that arose because of this year’s stagnation and the shortage of money. An essential task for the Society is to create new methods of providing for the sustenance of tradesmen so that this class might also enjoy life in our growing population. General prosperity requires a proliferation of occupations and will be absent in settlements where inhabitants largely depend on their own labour. Agriculture can only thrive on the foundation of an efficient and prosperous population as a whole. This involves active reciprocal trading between agriculturists and tradesmen, with one side providing its products to the other. Indeed, general prosperity will only develop where a considerable portion of the population consists of tradesmen. The Molochnaia Mennonite district pays attention to the moral education of its members. It is served by forty-four [elementary] village schools manned by the same number of schoolteachers and attended

87 Regarding the Klassen mill fire, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 240, 245, 260, 274, 276, 283, 293, 295, 341, 399, 405, 431, 710.

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by 1976 children of both sexes. They provide the basic foundations of reading, writing, and arithmetic. There are a further three schools, two of which are supported by financing from specially formed school societies and one by community taxes. The society schools, with five teachers, only accept students who already know how to read and write and are familiar with basic arithmetic. Each school is divided into two classes. Teaching includes religious instruction necessary for general education, the rules of German and Russian, history, geography, arithmetic, and drawing. The purpose of these schools, especially of the Society schools, is to educate teachers for our village schools. Schoolteachers are Mennonite men, educated appropriately for this purpose and exclusively for their profession. The third advanced educational institution, the District School, has two teachers, one for German and the other for Russian. Its purpose is to educate secretaries, bookkeepers etc. for service in the community. A reading association has also been formed to give older persons an opportunity for further education. For a very low annual fee of one silver ruble, it buys for its readers useful works with religious, historic, or economic content. At the present time, the Association’s library consists of 145 works in 235 volumes. Several individuals subscribe to newspapers, such as the St. Petersburg Akademische Deutsche Zeitung [St. Petersburg German Academic Newspaper], the Preussische Staats Zeitung [Prussian State Newspaper], the Allgemeine Deutsche Landwirtschaftliche Zeitung [General German Agricultural Newspaper], the Buerger und Bauern Zeitung [Citizens’ and Peasants’ Newspaper], the Garten Zeitung [Gardening Newspaper], the Odessaer Bothe [Odessa Messenger], the Blaetter ueber Landwirtschaft aus Odessa [Agricultural Newspaper from Odessa], the Journal vom Ministerium der Reichs-Domainen [Journal of the Ministry of State Domains], the Landwirtschaftliche Zeitung [Agricultural Newspaper], the Forst Journal [Forestry Journal], and the Journal ueber Schaafzucht [Journal about Sheepbreeding]. Daily and yearly wages for the tradesmen’s class have risen greatly due to a steady increase in general economic activity. During the winter one cannot hire workers for less that a ruble per day, plus board, or for an annual wage of 200 to 250 rubles. With the progressive advancement in agriculture, we must not hope that workers can be hired at lower wages daily or annually since it would be a curse for our community if wages were lowered for the class doing heavy labour. Improved agricultural establishments are increasing in price, rather than falling

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despite the decline in the price of almost all agricultural products this year. This is evidence of the rise and progress of our culture. The proverb that the newly built house and the well-planted garden and vineyard can infrequently be sold as dearly as what they originally cost cannot be applied in this case.

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Editors’ Introduction

At the request of Peter Keppen, Johann Cornies organized and supervised a number of archaeological excavations of mounds, or kurgans, in the Molochnaia River area. Keppen funded the project with grants from the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences. At a time when scientific archaeology was only beginning, Cornies’ work was elementary, but it stands up well in comparison to what was being done in other places such as Scandinavia and England at the time. The reports written for Cornies by Heinrich Balzer follow closely the first guidelines for such explorations published by Jens Worsaae in Denmark in 1843.1 When originally asked to engage in archaeological digs, Cornies expressed doubts about his abilities and asked for guidance from Keppen, who was a trained archaeologist. Keppen promised Cornies a copy of a report written by Franz Tietzmann on similar work done in Askanianova.2 This probably served Cornies as a template for his own reports. The first excavation report by Cornies included in the Russian Mennonite Archive was done in 1839 and exists in various drafts. The draft reports are detailed and follow closely the recommended scientific

1 Jens Jacob A. Worsaae, The Primeval Antiquities of Denmark, trans. William John (London: J.H. Parker, 1849). 2 A copy of Tietzmann’s report is in Cornies’ papers. The full report was published as “Ueber die Sűdrussischen Steppen und űber die darin im Taurischen Gouvernment belegenen Besitzungen der Herzogs von Anhalt-Kőthen,” Beitrȁge zur Kenntniss des Russichen Reiches und der angrënzenden Lȁnden Asiens 11 (1845), 87–135. See TSUS, vol. 2, doc. 167, for Keppen’s request to Cornies.

Part Two: Archaeological Excavation Reports

guidelines for such work mentioned above. They are translated below, with the edited, less detailed versions checked for additional information. All of Cornies’ archaeological reports, including those from after 1842 (the end date of this volume) are collected together here.

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711. Heinrich Balzer’s [?] Report on Excavations. No date [after 1 June 1839]. SAOR 89-1-578/3-7.1 Draft report [probably by on-site supervisor Heinrich Balzer]. On 26 May [1839] the mound situated on the east end of the Neukirch village road was examined. Ten workmen started to excavate at sunrise and stopped work at six in the afternoon. During this time, the east side of the mound was examined carefully and, using a level, the size and height of the mound were estimated. The shape of the mound was exactly circular with a diameter of nine rods, twelve feet, Rhineland measure. In the past, about two-thirds of its height had been smoothed down from the peak and someone had hauled this soil to the pit on the north side of the mound from which it had come. This pit was once seven feet, four inches deep but is now only two feet one inch deep. Since the mound was already lower than it had originally been and its shape had been changed with the removal of soil, and because the highest point is usually situated more toward the northern side [of a mound], the middle point could only be determined by working in a south to north direction. Accordingly, a five-foot-wide trench was marked off from south to north through the diameter and this was excavated down to the virgin soil, which can be clearly differentiated from

1

Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21. A diagram in the left margin of the first page is labelled Lagestelle des Kurganes (Strata of the mound).

Part Two: Archaeological Excavation Reports

the built-up soil of the mound. From the mid-point to the end, a fifteenfoot piece of trench was left untouched. During the excavation, large, ordinary granite stones, grey in colour, were discovered three feet below the upper level of the mound. This drew attention to a grave. With the greatest care, the soil was cleared and the stones were observed in all of their particulars. Of the eight stones varying in size, only three could be rolled from the grave with effort using iron bars. When they were removed without finding any images or inscriptions, the grave itself was examined. Situated lengthwise from east to west, it was five feet nine inches long and four feet wide. The light, dusty soil was carefully raked away without finding traces of stones or broken pieces of any sort. The grave had been dug into the virgin soil where its natural shape made it clearly recognizable. When it was emptied to a depth of three feet two inches, completely decayed bones were found on its floor as was a dust covering similar to yellow-white ash. Divided into two strips, this dust stretched from the two corners of the grave on the west end, along the grave’s length and toward its middle. From there it extended as one strip for another foot to the east. No traces of the decayed corpse were visible a fut beyond the east end of the grave. Eighteen individual hard solid human teeth were found at a point where the decayed dust strips came together in the middle of the grave. There were also signs of completely decomposed wood under the decayed remainders and this had largely been transformed into dust. According to our observations, the corpse had seemingly been in a sitting position, with its face to the west and its legs spread apart. On 29 May l839, an accumulation of soil, situated on the flat steppe, in a southerly direction from Iushanle and about three verstas from Lichtfelde village, was examined and digging was started with four workmen. It consisted of a circular ring of rubble consisting of fired pieces of hard, solid brick. The soil was somewhat deeper in the middle where a flat entrance could be seen towards the east. We marked off a twelvefoot trench from east to west, and cleared the rubble down to the level of the virgin soil. Here we clearly found an entrance, three feet nine inches wide. A pit twelve feet wide was recognizable in the middle. It was dug out but, since this work involving hard pieces of brick could not be done quickly, a depth of only two feet below the virgin soil was dug during the first day. Rain intervened. The excavation, using eight workers, resumed on 31 May. We reached a depth of seven feet that day. Six feet from the top level of the steppe, a wall of burned bricks was discovered on the west end. Beneath the rubble of soil and brick were bones of humans, animals and birds, still of considerable hardness.

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The following day, the eight men, after four hours of work, reached the base of the excavated wall. This laid bare a destroyed square wall of burned bricks, only one foot high at the east end. At the west end, the wall was unbroken. It was two feet, seven inches in height. The quality of the bricks is excellent, hard, solid, and lasting. At the corners the wall was decorated and vaulted from the bottom up to the middle and the shape proved that the vaulting had been five feet high in the middle. The inside was stuccoed with lime although the bricks had been laid with clay; and the bow-shaped vaulting indicated the good taste and cultivation of the builders. The entrance had been dug quite steeply into the earth but here there was no trace of a wall on the sides. Decayed remainders of several small pieces of wood at the bottom of the entrance seemed to indicate a door, and several insignificant pieces of rusted iron were recognizable on the same spot. Beneath the rubble, five broken human skulls were found and also an ordinary Tatar bronze pipe-head, partly broken. This leads to the conclusion that this masonry was discovered in recent times and destroyed in a search for treasure. The source of the rubble that consisted of fired brick pieces to fill the pit cannot be explained, since such a quantity could not have originated from the destruction of the subterranean vault alone. There is also a flat depression twenty feet wide beside the east end of the mound, from which the clay for the masonry could have been taken. When it was examined the pit was revealed to have been three feet two inches deep, but was also filled to a depth of two feet eight inches with burned pieces of bricks. No other traces of destroyed buildings or masonry were discovered, except that there are pieces of burned bricks here and there on the surrounding steppe. Probably this subterranean masonry was a vault or container for important persons, above which perhaps a chapel or some other building may have stood. Its ruins now consist of the brick pieces. On 1 June 1839 the excavation of a round mound, seventy-four feet in diameter and three feet, nine inches in height was begun. It is situated three verstas south of Lichtfelde village, towards the Iushanle. Four people worked here from nine a.m. until evening. The height of this mound was measured with the use of a level, as shown in the accompanying drawing [sketch in left margin]. The mound was circular in shape and its highest point was situated towards the north side, as usual. The mound is composed of soil obtained from the flat, ten- to fifteen-inch depression around it.

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The excavation proceeded as follows: A trench four and a half feet wide and forty feet long was marked off from east to west across the highest point of the mound. No unusual objects except for several ordinary, insignificant granite stones and jawbones of horses were discovered during digging, and also no marking of a grave or sign of human bones. The virgin soil was carefully raked off and examined but it was not possible to discover any traces of a burial. There was no sign of a burial in any direction except for some stirred-up soil on the eastern side, forty-eight feet from the western edge. The area was excavated and examined at a depth of three feet but nothing was found except for several horse bones. This purposeless searching in the mound was therefore abandoned. Also on 1 June 1839 and at the same distance from the Iushanle, a mound thirty-nine feet in diameter and twenty-one inches high was excavated, using four workmen. It was also circular in shape and its mound consisted of soil taken from the flat depression around it. A trench four and a half feet wide was marked off across the entire diameter of the mound and dug down to the virgin soil in an east-west direction. In the middle of the mound, an unrecognizable part of a statue was found one foot below the surface. Beside it, on its northern side, stood a three-foot-long granite stone, dug in to half its length. These were marks of a grave site and, after more soil had been cleared away, a grave was recognized with difficulty in the virgin soil. After it had been carefully raked out to a depth of one and a half feet, human remains were found on the south side of the grave, lying in a direction from east to west. The covering soil of the mound was completely cleared away down to the virgin soil, laying bare a corpse, whose bones were still quite solid but no longer connected. There were broken pieces of a common pot in the middle, somewhat under the trunk of the corpse that lay with its feet to the east. Below the knees the bones were bent toward the south. From this one can conclude that the corpse had been laid on its left side. However, despite the greatest diligence, no trace of a head could be found. Almost all others parts of the body are present. This suggests that the man may well have lost his life in war or was in some other way punished through decapitation. Several unconnected leg and arm bones of a second body were found irregularly dispersed on the south side of the corpse, near the location for a head. Our painstaking examination did not yield discoveries of any objects other than those named except for some marmot heads in the latter of these mounds.

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Also on 1 June 1839, four workmen excavated another low mound at four o’clock in the afternoon. Located at some distance to the north, it was twenty-four feet in diameter. The mound was cleared five feet through the middle and down to the virgin soil, working in a direction from east to south. Then a hole five and a half feet long, thirty-two inches wide and two feet six inches deep was dug, but no trace of a burial was found. It was solid, untouched hard virgin soil with several holes similar to marmot holes. Another one of the many small ordinary mounds, twelve feet in diameter and eight inches high, was dug three feet deep into the virgin soil. This also showed no traces of a grave or of bones. The soil was solid, except for small animal holes. Account for the excavation of the mounds: Friday, 26 May: 10 workers, at 2 rubles per day, 20 rubles Monday, 29 May: 4 workers at two and a half rubles per day, 10 rubles Wednesday, 31 May: 8 workers at two and a half rubles per day, 20 rubles Thursday 1 June: 8 workers at two and a half rubles per day, 20 rubles Total 70 rubles Lodging, oats and board for me, two rubles, forty kopeks Final total 72 rubles, 40 kopeks Advance received from J. Cornies on May 27 was forty rubles I paid the Neukirch mayor thirty-two rubles, forty kopeks My supervision duties for six days at 2.50 per day, fifteen rubles [Heinrich Balzer] 712. Johann Cornies, Six Excavation Reports. No date [after 17 October 1842]. SAOR 89-1-620/1-9.2 [Excavation No. 1:] On 1 September [1842], I [Johann Cornies] had a grave mound of the largest size found in this region opened on my own land in Melitopol Uezd. It is on the east bank of the Molochnaia at the edge of

2

Duplicate reports of these excavations also appear in SAOR 89-1-807 and SAOR 89-1884. Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21.

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a steep, high rise on the steppe, opposite the noble estate of Mordvinovka, approximately eight verstas along the Molochnaia River from the crown village of Novoaleksandrovka [later City of Melitopol]. This mound was fifteen feet high and 162 feet wide, Rhineland measure, and is shaped like a steep, round circle. There is a flat depression around the mound, suggesting that soil to build up the mound was taken from here but that the depression gradually filled in again over time. I had a trench, ten feet wide and thirty-five feet long, marked off from east to west across the middle of the mound, and seven workmen excavated it. The soil was dry, loose and sandy. At a depth of two feet, four inches, a brass jug filled with soil was found. It was six inches high, seven inches wide. Individual, disconnected bones of a corpse lay near the jug, suggesting a grave from recent times. By the third day, the mound was opened to a depth of eleven feet. The composition of the soil remained quite consistent, with few variations. Small broken earthenware pieces were found and also sharp fire stones and individual small pieces of charcoal and occasionally burned bones. Individual fresh, strong horse bones were also found, although these had probably been carried into the mound by foxes and wolves, since the hollows and tunnels of these animals, though now filled with soil, were clearly visible and obviously marked through the depths of the mound. Work was continued for two days and the trench was excavated to a depth of eighteen feet. No traces or marks of a grave were uncovered or detected. At this depth the soil was light, clean, and sandy and the work was discontinued. According to observations, this mound must date from very ancient times and must have been built then, because the soil of the steppe on all four sides of the mound consists of one to five feet of black vegetable soil [humus], which was not evident anywhere in the mound during the excavation, not even at its base. Therefore, it must have formed after the mound was built. On these same high banks of the steppe along the Molochnaia, there are a further four mounds, from eighty to 480 to 600 feet distance from the above mound, but of smaller size. The open, wide-ranging view of fifteen to twenty verstas in all directions from these mounds suggests that they are not grave monuments but observation posts. This view is strengthened by the fact that, especially to the southeast, across the Molochnaia River towards the Sea of Azov, there are similar, very steep mounds of this type, which stand out prominently.

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[Excavation No. 2:] On 17 September [1842] one of five mounds situated near the mouth of the Molochnaia River into the muddy flat (liman) was opened, using six workmen. On the highest point of the steppe, one versta from the liman and six verstas from the crown village of Rodionovka, these mounds are separated from one another by 120, 180, and up to 600 feet. They are situated on my own land. The mound opened was eight feet high and 155 feet wide and it seemed to me that this one should be opened because the top of the mound included a type of lime, marl and small shell-stones, which are never found in this region. They occur only at Kerch, in the Crimea. I had a trench forty feet long and ten feet wide marked off from east to west. The lime, marl, and shell stone debris was mixed in with decomposed sea grass and covered the mound for twenty-four square feet to a depth of two feet. Under this rubble, in the middle of the mound, eight pieces of worked, white sandstone, weighing from one to two puds each, were uncovered. In our uezd, this type of sandstone is encountered only at the crown village of Chernigovka. On the northern side of the mound, the foot of a so-called baba [stone image], sculpted of stone, was excavated. On the eastern side, an oak post, largely decomposed, was discovered in the mound. The soil in the mound was dry, hard, solid sand mixed with clay, so that a great deal of effort was necessary to excavate it. In the mound fox and marmot hollows now filled in by soil were noted and also bird bones, even eggshells that evidently had been carried into the hollows by these animals. It took seven days to excavate the mound to a depth of twelve feet. At ten and a half feet the virgin soil was obvious and it was very different from the built-up soil. It became evident that the surface level in the region surrounding the mound had accumulated to a depth of two and a half feet since it was built. However, there was no recognizable trace of the source of the soil to build the mound and no further traces in the mound. Since nothing else remarkable was revealed, I had the excavation stopped. [Excavation No. 3:] On 1 October [1842] I had the second of five mounds near the mouth of the Molochnaia River opened, using five workmen. Situated thirty-six feet to the north of the one already opened, it is five and a half feet high and 140 feet wide. A trench thirty-two feet long from south to north

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was made through the middle of the mound and the mound was, in four days, excavated to a depth of ten and a half feet. The built-up soil was clearly differentiated from the virgin soil at a depth of seven and a half feet, suggesting that here also the steppe had increased [two] feet in depth since the mound was built. Nothing worthy of note was revealed except for several granite stones weighing two to three puds each, broken pieces of pottery, the neck of a pottery jug, bird bones, eggshells, and skulls of rabbits and marmots probably carried into the still evident hollows by foxes. Therefore, I had the mound opened and examined in another direction, namely from east to west, with a trench twenty-two feet long, ten feet wide, and ten and a half feet deep. This also did not reveal anything that would lead one to conclude that this mound had been intended as a grave monument for a corpse. The opening of this hill required seven days of work by five workmen. [Excavation No. 4:] There are thirty mounds of various sizes scattered on a stretch of about two verstas of still unsettled crown land designated on the crown plan as No. 15, and intended for Hutterite Mennonite settlement beside the Tashchenak ravine. They are located on the right side of the ravine, eleven verstas from Novoaleksandrovka, one versta from my own estate and 300 feet right of the high road between Novoaleksandrovka and Akimovka. Four of the largest mounds are approximately fifteen feet high. A group of these mounds varying in size almost forms a semicircle. I designated one of these, situated nearly at the mid-point of the semi-circle and more distant from the rest, as the one to be opened. It was five feet, eight inches high, seventy-six feet wide, and formed a round circle. On 10 October [1842] I had a ten-foot wide trench marked off from south to north across the middle of the mound and six workmen began to open it. At a depth of approximately one and a half feet a complete horse skeleton lying on its right side with its head towards the west appeared. There were small rusted pieces of the iron parts of a bridle beside its cheekbone. We also discovered rusted pieces of iron buckles and stirrups. The soil forming the top two feet of the mound had been taken from the small flat depression found beside the mound. Beneath that layer, the lower part of the mound from a height of three and a half feet to the level of the steppe consisted of burned red soil that contained a large quantity of smaller and bigger burned bones and horse teeth,

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some willow charcoal, and ashes of reeds and rushes. In the middle of the mound, under these ashes, a grave was marked out clearly from east to west at the level of the steppe. It was seven feet long and three and a half feet wide, and filled with dry dusty soil. A human skull, Litt 1, was discovered at a depth of two feet. One and a half feet of the width of the grave itself was undermined lengthwise and was ten inches deeper on the south side. Decayed, split pieces of oak wood were evidence of this undermining, and it was possible to recognize that the wood had been dovetailed, forming a coffin about two feet three inches wide. A few pieces of oak wood that had formed a vault were not yet quite turned to dust, and they suggest that they were set at an angle in the vaulting under which the probable coffin described above was situated. A connected human skeleton without head lay in the coffin. The head found earlier was fitted to this skeleton and was shown to belong to it. The corpse, five feet long, lay with its head to the east, stretched out on its back. An earthenware urn designated as Litt A was found beside the feet, on their northern side. It is shaped like an ordinary pot and filled with dusty soil and contained a wooden spoon the size of an ordinary round table spoon. However the spoon crumpled to dust when it was taken out. A piece of silk firmly and heavily worked with golden wire in which several different colours are still recognizable, designated as Litt B, was found lying on the bottom of the foot end and was wrapped in decayed linen. There was a copper decoration under the right arm, designated as Litt C, its previous gilding still recognizable. The silk threads still evident on this decoration indicate without doubt that it had been stitched to a garment. This grave must have been dug out with sabres or tools two to three inches wide, of which the impression in the soil was still clearly distinguishable. The large quantity of burned bones and the large amount of ashes that filled the largest part of the mound suggest that sacrifices to honour this corpse were very significant and that the person had been greatly honoured during his lifetime. The work of opening this mound was concluded in two and one half days. [Excavation No. 5:] On October 14 [1842] I decided to open a mound situated 720 feet north of the mound previously opened, No. 4. This mound was four feet five inches high and fifty-six feet wide. I had a trench ten feet wide marked off from south to north across the mound. After it had been cleared to a depth of two feet from the top, disconnected horse bones were found

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as well as a rusted iron stirrup, pieces of a bridle, and the tongue of a buckle for a saddle girth. At the same level as the surrounding steppe, a grave, seven feet five inches long and two and a half feet wide, showed clearly. The grave was undermined towards one foot three inches below ground level towards the south and the undermining had been lined with two-inch-thick split oak wood, which was almost completely decayed. The grave was four feet deep and four feet wide at the bottom. The corpse lay stretched out on its back beneath the undermining, with its head, designated Litt 2, towards the east. It was four feet eleven inches long. A silver earring, designated Litt D, was found on the left side of the head. Upon touch, it fell apart into small pieces. Under the chin two small rounded copper buttons, designated Litt E, were found and also several pieces of rusted iron at the right knee. It was obvious that this corpse had six broken ribs that had healed, and it lay on thin decayed boards, that had been laid on top of one another crosswise and lengthwise. After this grave had been emptied down to solid ground, it was noticed that there were marks of another, even deeper grave below it on the east end almost at the middle of the opened grave. This grave was seven feet long and three fut wide and its excavation proceeded immediately. Large, solid pieces of clay two feet long and one foot thick were found in the dry, dusty soil of this grave. They are not similar in composition to any type of soil found in close proximity and must have been brought from elsewhere. The skull [Litt] 3 was found three feet from the bottom of the upper grave. The grave widened towards the east and west ends and had been rounded smoothly. Breaks had been dug in the edge of the vaulting, probably, to judge by the rotten wood found here, to hold wood set in front of the corpse. Behind it, on the flat ground on the north wall beneath the vault, was a shattered human corpse of medium size, lying on its back and with its head towards the west. Nothing else was found except two bone knife blades, designated as Litt F. Fox or wolf tunnels were clearly evident during the excavation of these graves, and these cause one to think that the skull and broken bits of skeleton had been dragged away by animals. The total depth of the grave below the level of the steppe soil was ten feet and the lowest grave was eight feet wide and nine and a half feet long on the north side. The soil to build this mound was taken from a small depression one foot, four inches deep, on the east, north and west sides of the mound. However, during excavation other soil varieties not found in this vicinity were observed. The work was completed in three days.

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[Excavation No. 6:] On 17 October [1842], thirty feet east of the previously described mound designated as [mound] No. 5, I had a south-to-north trench ten feet wide dug through a small mound one and a half feet high and twenty feet wide. At a depth of six inches, horse bones were found in the middle of the mound, a well-preserved iron buckle, and a heavily rusted but still intact stirrup, designated as Litt G. At the level of the steppe, directly under this horse skeleton, there was a grave, six feet long and two feet three inches wide, in which a corpse was stretched out on its back, its head, [Litt] 4, lying towards the east, the left hand laid against the cheek, the right across the chest and over the left arm. The soil making up this small mound was not of the same composition as the soil in the surrounding steppe. It was sandier and mixed partly with loam. This work was completed in one day, with six men working. 713. Johann Cornies, Five Excavation Reports. No date [after 28 September 1843]. SAOR 89-1-884/1-6.3 [Excavation Report No. 1:] On 17 September 1843, six workmen began to examine and excavate several mounds in an area on the Sea of Azov, approximately thirty-five verstas from the town of Nogaisk. On an elevation about four verstas from the Nogai village of Sashun, there are 102 mogilas situated together on an oval site approximately nine desiatinas in size, on the east bank, right at the mouth of the steppe river Korssak, five verstas from the sea. One of the mounds on the west side of this group is eleven feet high, Rhineland measure, and 140 feet wide. It is probably an observation mound, since there is a view of ten to thirty verstas in all directions from its top. Two mounds beside it, eight feet high at their mid-point, are steep and pointed. There is a ridge fifteen feet wide and about four feet high built up around them and the mounds inside this do not seem to have been totally constructed or completed. Twenty-five of the mounds are three to five feet high and forty to sixty feet wide and seventy-four are one to three feet high and twenty to forty feet wide.

3

Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21.

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Mound No. 1, where excavation began at 6 a.m. on 17 September [1843], is situated on the east side towards the middle of the group and is four feet nine and a half inches high, Rhineland measure, fifty feet wide and is quite round. The soil in it was obtained right around it, evidenced by a flat, three-inch depression and also because it has the same loam-like composition of the soil as the steppe floor. A north-to-south trench ten feet wide was marked off straight through its middle and dug down to ground level, but not even the slightest specimen of bones, stones, or anything else was encountered. Digging was completed by evening of this same date. On Saturday, 18 September, using a trench from east to west, three and half feet wide on the west end and two and a half feet wide on the east end, a grave seven feet, eight inches long was opened in the middle of the mound. On its south side, the grave was filled with the same soil as the mound, but on the north side, it was filled with black clay soil, once wet and probably transported from the river bed of the Korssak. It had formed a hard and solid mass so that it was only possible to free anything with effort. Using the required caution, the grave could only be emptied slowly. At a depth of three feet eight inches, there was a break one foot six inches wide on the south side of the grave and opposite this the north side had been undermined. The tool used to do this digging had a flat bottom and was four inches wide. There were decayed pieces of birch wood on the sides, showing that the grave had probably been outfitted with wood from the [abovementioned] break towards the north side. A corpse lay under the north side of the undermining, its head positioned towards the west. It was straight on its back with hands stretched out at its sides. Birch wood lay beside the skeleton, with marks of bark underneath it as well. There was a partially disintegrated leather pouch towards the mid-point of the west side, holding birch bark beside iron knives with wooden sheaths. In addition to more iron work and knife pieces on the outer side beside the left knee, there was also an iron button (or battle club), Litt. A, the size and shape of a medium-sized apple, with a three-quarter inch hole in the middle holding a wooden stake. Birch bark lay beside and beneath the skeleton, some of it pressed flat with burned-in decorations, but partly disintegrated, Litt B. At the foot end, a copper urn (or camp kettle), Litt. C, was found, three and a quarter inches high and five and a half inches wide, round in shape and with two iron ears that had rusted off. It had a thin, decayed wooden shell or core, only containing soil. Cutting tools were found beside the urn and traces of a saddle at the end of the grave,

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including decayed iron stirrups, as well as an iron buckle, some leather and wood, all still recognizable. Stirrup and buckle had the usual form. The corpse lay on linen, then a thin layer of wood. Silk cloth was noticable under and over the skeleton. Small traces of very fine linen indicated that it had probably been the shirt. The corpse was five feet long, but the skull, Litt No.1, was split at the nape and had fallen apart. Some of the birch bark fibre was remarkably firm and new as though it was of recent origin, having defied disintegration into small pieces. By Saturday evening this work was completed. The grave had been dug to a depth of five feet four inches into the virgin soil and was flat and even at the bottom. [Excavation Report No. 2:] On Monday, 20 September [1843], excavation began at 6 a.m. through the second mound in the same group near the sea. It is located almost at the centre of the group and is circular in shape, three feet six inches high and forty feet wide. The soil probably came from nearby, but no depression was noticeable since the mounds almost touch one another here. By 12 o’clock a ten-foot-wide trench, down to virgin soil, was dug through the trench from north to south. In the afternoon a grave was excavated in the middle of the mound. Situated in a northeast to southwest position, it was six feet eight inches long, three feet five inches wide towards the northeast and two feet wide towards the southwest. The grave had been filled from the top with very hard, solid loam mixed with marshy clay soil. At a depth of a half foot, there was a break on either side with traces of ash wood, which suggests that the grave had been covered with wood. A human skeleton was found on the bottom of the grave, its head towards the northeast. It had been laid on its back with its arms stretched out at its sides, its feet about one foot apart. The corpse was five feet, three inches long. Partly rusted and decayed stirrups were situated about one fut from the floor of the grave at its southwest end. They were the same shape as those found in the first [mound], flat on the bottom, the oblong sides of the usual size. At the left elbow, between the arm and the body, lay a piece of bent steel of the usual oval shape and a white flintstone. Beneath the right elbow, between the arm and the body, various types of knife blades with wooden handles were found, together with some leather, probably from sheaths, as well as a small thin white whetstone, and a small piece of a wooden comb, which had

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fine teeth on one side and coarse teeth on the other. Two small iron rings one inch in diameter lay on the right side beside the loins. About eight inches lower than the right shoulder was an iron knob, its shape and size that of a medium-sized apple. A round hole straight through its middle held some yellow wood. On the floor of the grave, between the legs and a little above the knee, and standing on linen folded a number of times, there seemed to be a type of lamp, moulded out of a piece of sheet copper five inches wide, its corners bent up about one inch, with a handle fashioned of narrow tin. It contained fatty linen pieces, stuck together. A two-inch piece of sheet copper bent in the shape of a pouch but completely empty was lying beside the right knee. Pieces of sheet copper were found here and there beside the corpse and also iron pieces jumbled together with birch bark, some of them still firm and holding together well. At the end, between the feet, there were unrecognizable pieces of iron and also knife pieces with handles of wood. A tool two and three-quarter inches wide and flat at the bottom had been used to dig this grave four feet ten inches into the virgin soil. [Excavation No. 3:] [A small diagram of a mound appears in the margin.] On Tuesday morning, 21 September 1843, a small mound on the western side of this group of mounds beside the sea, was excavated from north to south beginning with a trench ten feet wide. It was completed by nine o’clock. A grave was found in the middle of the mound, situated from southwest to northeast. The grave was six feet three inches long, two and a half feet wide on the southwest end, one foot nine inches wide on the northeast end, and recessed to a depth of two feet on the north side. The grave had been filled in with wet clay soil and was solid. It was hard to clear out. First its length, then the height of the recess had been lined with split oak wood. At the bottom of this hollowed-out area on its north side, was a human skeleton, with its head pointed to the southwest. Its feet were laid together somewhat crookedly, the toes together, while its hands lay at its sides. The corpse was five feet two inches long. The grave was four feet ten inches deep and the bottom of the grave was five feet wide and seven and a half feet long, and had been dug using a tool two inches wide. There appeared to be no sign of iron work or of an urn with the corpse, nor any wood or other material on which the

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corpse had been laid. The skull was completely brittle and, since it had fallen apart, could not be lifted out. This work was finished by 4 o’clock in the afternoon. On the evening of the same day, a small mound in the middle of this group was also cleared down to the virgin soil. It was one foot high and eighteen feet wide. The whole mound was excavated to a depth of two and a half feet into the virgin soil. However, no traces of a grave were found, only animal corpses and tunnels. Therefore the innumerable small mounds almost everywhere on the steppe are not graves but contain the refuse of animals. [Excavation No. 4:] [Small diagram of a mound appears in margin.] On Wednesday, 22 September [1843], a mound at the end of the steppe group along the bank of the Korssak River was dug through from east to west with a ten-foot-wide trench. In the middle, a regular recess at a depth of one foot suggested the presence of vaulting or a receptacle that had produced the depression when it collapsed. The mound was two feet three inches high, forty-three feet wide and was connected to another larger mound beside it. In the middle of the mound, a grave was found in the virgin soil. It was seven feet long from northeast to southeast, five feet four inches deep and two and a half feet wide. The soil in the grave was hard, solid dried clay. The grave had been dug straight down on one side, with no recessing. On the bottom of the grave was a human corpse lying on its back. It was five feet two inches long, with its head pointed towards the northeast. The skeleton’s arm and leg bones had, however, been carried off by animals (possibly foxes and wolves), and parts of the skeleton lay dispersed in the grave, scattered by animals, along with small totally unrecognizable single pieces of iron. Nothing resembling an urn, linen, or stones was observed but some birchbark and pieces of wood were found here and there in the grave or beside the corpse. Parts of the skull had been dispersed by animals and everything was so brittle that it could not be lifted out. The recessing in the middle of the mound was probably caused by the collapse of the grave. It could now no longer be determined how it had been laid down before it collapsed. No signs of the tools used to dig the grave were noticeable at any spot. There was no trace of a second grave beneath this grave and its floor was in solid virgin soil.

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This excavation was completed by 4 o’clock in the afternoon. The examination of this group of mounds continued until 12 noon on Thursday, 23 September. [Excavation No. 5:] Examination of the second group of mounds began at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 23 September [1843]. They are situated about two verstas from the Sea of Azov and two verstas from the Nogai village [of Sastchuk], on a rise of the right bank above the steppe river Korssak. There are fifty mounds here, located on an area of about five desiatinas. Two of these mounds are six to eight feet high, while forty-eight are from one to six feet high. This elevated place provides a view over a considerable distance. The soil here is fruitful and loamlike and was taken from the immediate environs to build the mound, as was the case with the first group of mounds. It is of the same composition. Mound No. 5 is situated in the middle of the group, at the precipice of the bank [profile drawing of mound is in left margin] and is seventy-five feet wide and five feet high. A trench ten feet wide was dug through it from north to south. This was completed by the evening of 24 September. It contained no objects, not even ones that were extremely small. No trace of a grave could be seen in the virgin soil at the middle of the mound. I then had the soil dug to a depth of thirty-two feet, with an excavation eight feet wide and ten feet long, but no trace of a grave was found. However, a thin layer of wood was noticed in the virgin soil on the east side of this excavation, where I assumed there was a grave. Some digging under this spot evidenced traces of a grave. For this reason, on Saturday, 25 September, I had the soil cleaned off, digging seven feet wider into the mound, but found no signs of a grave, except for some wood and some bones from a human skeleton, carried there by animals. We dug four feet deeper into the virgin soil at this spot and discovered clear signs of a grave from that point towards the south side of the mound. For this reason, I also had the south side cleared of soil to a width of seven feet on Monday, 27 September, digging from the top of the mound and down into the virgin soil. Here too, in the virgin soil, were no signs of a grave. But I had further digging done and at the north end of the mound a grave became visible three feet from the top level of the virgin soil. Seventeen arrows were found lying close together in one spot in the soil, Litt K, but nothing else. Somewhat further towards the south, parts of a human skull were found

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in two spots. They were pressed completely flat, decayed and fallen apart, probably dragged there by animals. Towards the north end of this grave, one foot down and about two feet from the bottom of the grave, was a smooth grey granite stone, about a foot wide and two inches thick. In the middle of the grave, and six inches from the bottom, was a brown whetstone, four inches long, three inches wide, and one and a quarter inches thick. On the floor of the grave was split oakwood and, in some spots on its east side, a layer of seagrass an inch high. There had also been a wood lining two feet above the bottom of the grave, along its sides. Parts of a human skeleton were found here and there as digging proceeded, but they were completely disconnected and it was not possible to determine the position of the corpse. Except for a few small broken pieces, not the slightest evidence of an urn appeared. The grave had been filled with solid loam soil, like that of the surrounding soil, and this layer was up to six feet thick in the grave, seven feet across from north to south, ten feet long from east to west. It was oval shaped at the bottom. It was not possible to conjecture what shape had been at the top, or if it had been dug straight in from the top or undermined to one side. There was also no trace of iron in it. This work was ended by Tuesday 28 September. 714. Johann Cornies to Peter Keppen. No date [1843?]. SAOR 89-1-941/5v.4 The heights, precipices, and flat steppes from the Dnieper to the Sea of Azov, and from the Don to the Crimean peninsula, are covered irregularly with smaller mounds about one to two feet high as though seeded at intervals of several to a hundred fathoms. I had several excavated in various places in Melitopol Uezd and examined them to a depth of three feet. These diggings yielded no results, suggesting that these mounds had, in all probability, been heaped up by marmots bringing soil out of their subterranean hiding holes and nooks or places of refuge. Over hundreds of years marmots, in colossal numbers, had dwelt here undisturbed. In this way the mounds had been formed in colossal numbers. Excavation reveals clear traces of hollows or hiding holes that had again filled with the passage of time. Also, the soil of these mounds is not the same as that of the surrounding steppe surfaces, but

4

Ibid.

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of the same composition as the soil three feet below the surface of the steppe. On the west side of the steppe river Korssak in the lowlands beside the Nogai village of Ulkonsusiktogun is quite a large round vault built of fired bricks, still completely preserved in the earth. The Nogais have marked it off with a trench, attributing to the vault especially great healing powers for eye ailments. They keep it holy, making pilgrimages to it, and did not wish me to open it. On the south side I noticed a spot in the vault with no masonry wall, doubtlessly the entrance to the vault. It was covered with soil and the Nogais themselves had not, until I showed it to them, recognized it as an entrance. On the southwest side of the vault is a coarsely worked standing granite stone about three arshins high. It is covered with an engraved script from top to bottom on three sides. His honour State Counsellor Steven, to whom I mentioned this stone and its inscription when he last stayed with me in September, was so kind as to promise to order something with which one could make a copy of it. As soon as I receive this, I will, without delay, take a copy of the above-mentioned stone and send it to Your Honour. 715. Peter Keppen to Imperial Academy of Sciences. 15 December 1843. SAOR 89-1-604/48.5 To the Imperial Academy of Sciences, I have the honour to present to the Academy the enclosed results included in the response sent by the Mennonite Johann Cornies to our request for excavations. They consist of 1) Eleven original reports about that number of excavated steppe mounds, which Mr. Baer is prepared to print in the Beitraege zur Kentniss des russichen Reiches.6 2) My summary of these for the Bulletin, and also an inventory list of of the tumuli examined.

5 6

Ibid. These archaeological reports never appeared in Beitrȁge zur Kenntniss des Russichen Reiches. A brief summary appeared in Bulletin de la Classe historico-phililogique de l’ Académie Impériale des sciences de St. Petersbourg, Vol. II, no. 13, 15 December 1843 – see doc. 732.

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Mr. Cornies who, in 1839, originally opened three tumuli experimentally at his own cost, has now in the years 1842 and 43 opened at least eleven mounds at the Academy’s expense. The accounts for the first six excavations in 1842 totalled fifty rubles, seventy kopeks silver. He had received fifty-seven rubles, fourteen and two-sevenths kopeks silver (200 rubles assignats), and was left with a remainder of only six rubles, forty-four and three-sevenths kopeks silver. He must thus have contributed some funds of his own to open the last five graves this year (1843). Since I received his reports, [along with] the skulls discovered as well as the artifacts found in the mounds, from State Counsellor Steven, I do not know how large the advance made by Cornies might have been. In any case I think that he should be asked what the Academy still owes him. At the same time, he should be requested to have another two or three graves opened: 1. One to the east of the Molochnaia River in Melitopol district in Tavrida Gubernia, namely one of the four tumuli that are fifteen feet high and situated in a group of thirty mounds of which one, No. 4, was opened in October 1842. 2. A mound to the west of the Molochnaia River, at the outlet of the Korssak stream, which is eleven feet high and is situated within a group of 102 smaller grave mounds. If the Academy declares itself prepared to bear the costs of this new excavation, as I have no doubt it will, I request that the printing of the reports from Cornies, together with my summary, be delayed until the expected supplementary reports are received. By then, Mr. Cornies will probably have had the opportunity to take a copy of the script on the stone, which, as he writes, covers three whole sides of a three-arshin-high, roughly worked granite stone. This monument is found on the southwestern side of an underground vault west of the Korssak steppe-river, beside the Nogai village of Ukon Ssassyk Togan (the last settlement near the mouth of the Korssak into the Sea of Azov). The Nogai make pilgrimages to the vault, which they hold sacred, because they ascribe to it great healing power for eye ailments. The exceptional accuracy with which Mr. Corniess has conducted and described these excavations in completing the request put to him by the Academy, is deserving of the utmost recognition and I therefore propose that he be publicly thanked by the Academy. Signed Keppen.

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716. Peter Keppen to Johann Cornies. 20 January 1844. SAOR 89-1-604/46.7 Highly treasured friend! Unforgivably, I have not answered several of your dear letters nor thanked you for the carrying out of our request for excavations. I can only seek redemption in a sincere apology. I have not yet had the report printed because two more mounds should be opened before we can permit ourselves to make definite statements. Valued friend, the request of the Academy is to complete the task you have begun. From the enclosed copy of my report you will see that your excavations have led to results that I dared not expect, since it is already possible to consider a classification of the tumuli, something impossible until now. Particularly interesting and of significance for science is the observation that mounds of the first type have been built up from below the level of today’s top soil by a layer of humus. Do investigate these conditions in the proposed excavations further, and with all possible accuracy, since they would advance geological information about the number of years required to build up a layer of vegetable mould [humus] of a specific thickness on the steppes. This would enable us to determine the age of the mounds on the steppe. I share the enclosed copies of my submissions to the Academy with you, so that you can see why we are concerned that two more mounds be opened. I also include information about the mounds still to be excavated and request that you do this as soon as possible in order that the report about your complete accomplishments can be printed soon. The sixteen rubles, seventy-five and two-sevenths kopeks silver which you kindly advanced will be refunded to you by the Academy. Later I will ensure that the new expenses to be made will be thankfully recompensed. We are anxious to get a copy, as accurate as possible, of the inscription found on the west side of the Korssak stream situated near the village of Ulkon-Ssassyk-Togun. Since our previous correspondence informed me that you have a man in your midst who is a skilled book printer, it might be possible to [have him] copy the inscription using

7

Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21.

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the method described in the enclosed instructions. Is there a date on the inscription? The artifacts that you have sent along should be preserved in the Academy’s museum. I am at present preparing an inventory of the same. I am very thankful for the great accuracy with which you have conducted and described the excavations. I can only hope that [Uscahon], the estate owner in Tver Gubernia who has undertaken to do similar examinations for the Academy in Tver and Novgorod gubernias, will not give you any advice. I also thank you for the agricultural information you have provided [about the Molochnaia Mennonite District] that will soon be used by my friend Sablozky (the editor of the journal of the Ministry of State Domains) and remain, with exceptional respect, your obedient servant Keppen. 20 January 1844, St. Petersburg. P.S. I am able to send you a copy of the inventories now that they are complete. Many thanks also for sending the accompanying drawings in the report about all graves opened in 1843. Do proceed in the same way with the graves still to be opened. Now, several questions: 1. When you said in Nos. 2 and 3 that “this mound was” so many “feet wide” did you mean the diameter of the mound at ground level? 2. In regard to No. 4 you spoke about “Hutterite” Mennonites. What type of people are they? 3. I request more detailed information about the sculpted stone “foot” of the so-called “Baba” [stone image]. 717. Heinrich Balzer, Excavation Report. 20 June 1844. SAOR 89-1-1099/2.8 [Diagram in margin] On Monday afternoon, 8 May [1844], seven workmen began to excavate the mound situated on the east bank of the Tashchenak river, approximately a versta and a half from the Johann Cornies estate. Situated to the right of the high road (from Melitopol to the Crimea), about 1200 feet from

8

Cornies submitted an edited version of this report to Keppen on 10 July 1844. Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21.

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the edge of the steppe and about 900 feet from the Tashchenak river bed, it is circular, one hundred and fifty-eight feet wide (Rhineland measure), and nine feet, eight inches high. Built with a gradual slope on its south side, its north side is steeper. There is an almost unrecognizable, flat, twoinch-deep depression beside the mound, and a chain of mounds stretches along the edge of the steppe on both sides of it, all of them from thirty or sixty feet to 450 feet apart and from one and a half to seven or eight feet high. Those on the southeast and northwest sides of the designated mound are circular, about three feet high and sixty feet wide. The top of this mound was overgrown with grass and seemed to have remained unchanged from its original shape. Before the soil was removed, a ten-foot trench was marked off from south to north diagonally through the middle of the mound. Somewhat south of the middle of the mound, at a depth of one and a half feet, were found several horse leg bones (probable) with the skeleton of a dog between them. As digging proceeded, there appeared a partly decayed spruce post standing vertically and several pieces of spruce wood. It was not possible to determine if these animal bones had been in the mound when it was originally constructed and had then been scattered or disturbed by animals that had several entrances and hollows in the mound, or whether they had been buried here later. The bones were still hard and solid. This top layer of soil, about four fut deep, was uniform and probably came from the adjoining, still noticeable depression, since it conformed to the top layer of soil in this region. However, the lower layer of soil in the mound was mixed, including hard, dried, previously wet lumps of soil, seemingly taken from the riverbed. It also included loam that was taken from a different place. Not the slightest evidence of stone was found in this trench, except for two small firestones located in an animal hollow we discovered. A piece of horse-tooth was also recognized. Since it was not possible in a week to dig this diagonal trench across the mound down to the virgin soil, I had the soil removed on a slant on both sides [of the trench] at the middle of the mound to enable us to reach virgin soil by means of a steep, twenty-three-foot pit at the point where the mound was highest. The built-up soil of the mound was clearly distinguished from the virgin soil by a one-inch layer of whitish soil. I could not establish the origin of this layer or determine whether it had originally consisted of dried grass or had intentionally been built up. Since the soil in the pit had been cleaned out without revealing any traces of a grave, I had the virgin soil dug another foot down. Again, I found no evidence of a grave.

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Because the horse bones found were situated towards the east side of the mound, this seemed to suggest that a grave might perhaps be on that side. I therefore I had a pit seventeen feet long and eight feet wide excavated on the east side along the ridge of the mound. However as was previously the case, we found only scattered horse leg bones and no traces of a grave. [In margin:] These leg bones lay one and a half feet beneath the peak of the mound, scattered in an area twelve feet long and six feet wide. Two feet into the virgin soil and directly beneath these bones, animals had burrowed a hollow twelve feet long and two feet wide. It was similar to a grave, but excavation showed it was an animal hollow, not a grave. On the excavated north end of the mound the differently built-up layers of soil clearly showed that during construction, the mound had purposely been sloped on the south side and left steep on the north side, starting in the middle of the mound at its highest point. This indicates that it is incorrect to conjecture that the mounds, over a long period of time, have been peeled away on their north side and altered from their original shape. The black top layer of virgin soil beneath the mound could be assumed to be ten to twelve inches deep. The comparable layer was from twelve to fourteen inches deep at a distance of one hundred and twenty to one hundred and eighty feet from the mound, so that the difference in the depth of the top soil was shown to be about two inches. Under the mound it had a yellower appearance than elsewhere, but in the pit itself, it was blacker to a depth of sixteen inches. Because no grave was found where the mound is at its highest, as it is customarily, it can be concluded that this was no grave mound but was probably meant to be a sacrificial mound, also situated somewhat outside the line of this chain of hills. Heinrich Balzer 718. Heinrich Balzer, Excavation Report. 20 June 1844. SAOR 89-1-1099/8v.9 On 27 May 1844, employing nine workmen, the excavation of a mound on the east bank of the Korssak river was begun. It is situated at the river’s mouth into the Sea of Azov, thirty-five verstas from the town of Nogaisk, three to four verstas away from the Nogai village of Sastchun.

9

Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21.

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It is quite circular, somewhat more sloped toward the south side than to the north side. Its top was completely undamaged and in its original form. It is 131 feet, six inches wide, Rhineland measure, and thirteen feet four inches high and was built on a small rise, as compared to its nearest surroundings. Probably because there are many surrounding mounds and also because the virgin soil is uneven and hilly, some soil was taken from the whole area. As a result, the vertical height of the designated mound above the virgin soil was only eleven feet, six inches. In five and a half days, the mound was excavated diagonally with a trench twelve feet wide from south to north. It was cleared out completely down to the virgin soil. From the top, to a depth of about two to three feet, the soil of the mound was uniform steppe soil like that of the surrounding area, and probably taken from an irregular depression beside it. Below this level, the soil of the mound was mixed, consisting partly of yellow loam and partly of black vegetable mould [humus] taken from the top layer of the steppe. Except for very small, insignificant pieces of grey flint, no stones were present in the mound, and there were also no traces of wood. However, human bones were present almost everywhere in the mixed soil of the mound, even pieces of a skull, and signs of decayed corpses, so that it could be assumed that many corpses had been covered and buried in it. This could not be determined definitely, however, since wild animals such as foxes have lived in the mound, as they generally do here, possibly for thousands of years, and have dug tunnels and hollows deep into the virgin soil. Therefore one cannot know if traces of human skeletons noted had simply been brought in by animals or had originally been buried there. After the soil had been cleared diagonally through the mound and to the bottom, signs of a grave showed at the mid-point, under the peak of the mound. However, when this was cleared out, it was found to be an animal hollow. I had this area dug out to a depth of two fut and seven fut wide to solid clay soil. The excavation showed clearly that this was not a grave. However, a grave was revealed on the south side, about eighteen feet from the peak of the mound. It was empty, but a corpse was found on its floor. The corpse seemed to have rested on oaken bark. Because the grave itself had been deformed by animal entrances and disturbances, only a few pieces of leg and arm bones of the generally decayed remains of this corpse could be found. There was no possibility of concluding what the original position of the corpse had been. Judging by the dust and ashes left by the corpse, it had lain on its back lengthwise in the grave, with its head towards the northeast. There was, however, no

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trace of the skull, nor of any deposits like stones, ironwork, etc. The form of the grave had probably not been recessed, as some graves of this sort are, but had been dug five fut down steeply on both sides. The grave was six feet long and three and a half feet wide from northeast to southwest. The soil thrown out of the grave lay freely on the top and had not been used to refill it. Thirty fathoms southeast of the mound, the steppe now shows a layer of about two feet of black humus soil, but under the mound this was only one foot deep and mixed with significantly more yellow soil than on the outside. [Additions by Cornies:] Previously, the Nogais resisted any work involving the opening of these mounds. But now I have finally succeeded in persuading them to agree [to such work] and the prejudice “Whoever opens such grave mounds will be plagued by evil spirits for the rest of his life,” has been set aside. After a lengthy process of making inquiries, His Honour, Baron v Rosen eventually arranged to provide me with printing paper and printer’s ink from Simferopol. On June 28, this week, I went with a person skilled in the art of printing books to the village of Ulkon Lusiktogun in order to take an impression, as exactly as possible, of the inscription on the gravestone situated there. I am honoured to send it to you. The two halves of this impression fit together in the shape of a cross. In spots the script was no longer visible and for this reason such spots on the impression remained white. The pieces of cloth pasted to the ends are impressions of the ends of the stone, exactly as the ends were found. After the stone had been lifted out and laid down on my orders, something the Nogais were very willing to do, some old Nogais told me that when they had settled here more than fifty years ago, the stone was not standing. It was lying horizontally above the vault, the way I had now laid it, and it had eventually been lifted up by the Nogais. After the coffin-shaped stone was washed clean, it was revealed that it was fine-grained sandstone, not granite, and covered on three sides and both ends with inscriptions showing that it was not made to stand vertically, but to lie horizontally on the side which had no writing. To the extent that I have been able to decipher the inscription, this seemed to be engraved not across the stone but lengthwise, from the right to the left, and must be read in this way. The Nogais pleaded urgently that I should inform them of the contents of the inscription. They say that, according to their tradition, the

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daughter of the count Edige died and was buried here. He had been unjustly expelled for a righteous cause and he chose this region to halt with thousands of Tatars under his command, to which the Nogais belong. This daughter had actually been betrothed to Machmut, Khan of the Golden Horde, and her father was banished because she had fled from the seraglio to her father in an amazing way. The stone’s measurements are three arshins, a half vershok long, eleven vershok high and six and a half vershok wide and it is shaped like the enclosed model, which is one-sixth the size of the stone. I am unable to provide any further enlightenment about the carved stone foot of the so-called Baba [stone image], except that this broken piece comes from a masculine figure carved in stone. Only the bottom of a foot was still somewhat recognizable. Such babas are found here quite frequently. 719. Brief overview of the tumuli opened in the years 1842–44 on the north shore of the Sea of Azov by P. Keppen (Lu le 15 decembre 1843); including a table. An off-print of a German-language article published in Bulletin de la Classe historico-phililogique de l’ Académie Impériale des sciences de St. Petersbourg T. II, no. 13, 15 December 1843. SAOR 89-1-993.10 More than ten years ago the Academy approved my proposal to have the tumuli north of the Sea of Azov examined by the universally esteemed Mennonite, Johann Corniess [sic].11 On 2 August 1839, I reported about the first of Mr. Cornies’ endeavours of this nature, undertaken at his own expense.12 In January 1843 I received detailed descriptions of six different excavations, made in the preceding year (1842) in mounds found on the right 10 A draft of this article, with some omissions, is located in SAOR 89-1-604. Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21. 11 Footnote in original: “Mr. Johann Corniess [sic] resides in the village of Ohrloff, in Melitopol uezd, Tavrida Guberniia. He is one of Russia’s most distinguished agriculturalists and has made an inestimable contribution toward an understanding of the civilization of the Nogais. The learned committee of the Ministry of State Domains has recogized his merits by electing him to the position of a corresponding member.” 12 Footnote in original: “An excerpt of the report was printed in No. 197 of the German newspaper in St. Petersburg in 1839.”

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side of the Molochnaia [River] in Melitopol Uezd, Tavrida Guberniia. In November 1843, reports of five more excavated graves on the left side of the above-mentioned river were sent to me. Communications about another two excavations, made at the request of the Academy, reached me in August 1844. Mr. Cornies has completely justified the Academy’s confidence in him and the submitted reports are of such a nature that our knowledge about the artificial mounds on the northern shore of the Sea of Azov has been significantly widened. Indeed they enable us to finally consider a classification of the steppe-mounds in European Russia. The following mounds are found there: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Mounds which are not graves. Mounds in which horses were sacrificed above the grave. Ordinary grave mounds. Marmot piles.

Because Mr. Baer is prepared to deal extensively with Cornies’ reports in Beitraege zur Kenntnis des Russischen Reiches [Contributions to knowledge about the Russian Empire], which he issues with Mr. Helmersen, I will be content to present here a tabular overview of the thirteen mounds opened in the last three years (1842–44).13 Inventory of the tumuli on the northern side of the Sea of Azov opened by the Mennonite Johann Cornies in the years 1842, 1843, and 1844, [including] number and time of excavation, location, diameter at ground level, in Rhineland measure,14 height above ground, contents of the mounds, etc. On the left [east] side of the Molochnaia River: – Mound No. 1 (1/13 September 1842) is eight verstas from Melitopol on Tashchenak land. A grave-mound of the first size in that region, 162 feet in diameter, 13 feet high, contained one brass jug beside a corpse from recent times found 2 feet, 4 inches under the surface and bones of horses carried in by foxes and wolves. Round in

13 The report never appeared in Beitraege zur Kenntnis des Russischen Reiches. 14 Footnote in original: “One Rhineland, or what is actually the same thing, one Prussian foot, equals 1.02972 English or Russian feet and consists of 139.13 Paris lines. It is divided into 12 inches. 15 Rhineland feet therefore consist of 15.4458 English feet.”

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–

–

–

–

–

shape, [the mound] contained no trace of the very old black vegetable mould that is 4 to 5 feet deep in the surrounding area. Mound No. 2 (17/29 September 1842) is not far from the mouth of the Molochnaia, one versta from the liman and 6 verstas from the village of Rodionovka. It is 133 feet in diameter and 8 feet high with lime rubble, marl, and small shell stones at its peak. Eight worked sandstones and a piece of a stone image were found in it. The original height was ten and a half feet above the level of the steppe, which can be concluded from the humus layer found under the mound. Mound No. 3 (10/22 October 1842) is 60 fathoms away from No. 2. It is 140 feet in diameter, five and a half feet high, but its original height was seven and a half feet, since the humus layer surrounding the mound is also 2 feet higher here than the similar layer under the mound. Several granite stones found in the interior. Mound No. 4 (10/22 October 1842) is eighty sazhen off the high road leading from Melitopol to Perekop; eleven verstas from Melitopol (in a group of perhaps 30 mounds, of which 4 are about 15 feet high). It is seventy-six feet in diameter, five feet, eight inches high. A complete horse skeleton was found one and one half feet from the top and beneath it, burned bones, horse-teeth, coals, and ash. There was a grave somewhat farther down, more than 2 feet below ground level. The corpse in its coffin was found in a side hollow of the grave. Pottery jug, wooden spoon, silken gold brocade, linen, copper arm bracelet with gilding. (Grave was dug with two- to three-inch-wide tools or swords). Skull No. 1 came from this mound. Mound No. 5. (14/26 October 1842) Located 120 fathoms from No. 4, it was fifty-six feet in diameter, four feet, three inches high, with a horse skeleton two feet from the top. The corpse, found below ground level, lay in a southerly side-hollow with one silver earring. Another corpse was found five feet deeper in a northerly sidehollow, with two bone knife-blades. Hollows made by foxes and wolves were also found. Skulls No. 2 and 3 came from here. Mound No. 6 (17/29 October 1842) Located five fathoms from No. 5, it was twenty feet in diameter and one and one half feet high. A horse skeleton was found six inches from the top with an iron buckle and stirrup, with a corpse below ground level. Skull No. 4 came from here.

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On the left [east] side of the Molochnaia River: – Mound No. 7 (17/29 October 1842). On a ridge about four and one half verstas long, on the right bank of the Korssak stream, between the village of Ulkon-Ssassyk-Togun and the Sea, there are three groups of mounds. Specifically this is one of the 102 grave-mounds which form the most southerly group closest to the Sea. (The highest of these mounds is eleven feet high). See Illustration No. 1. [Not included]. It is fifty feet in diameter, four feet nine and one half inches high. There was nothing above ground level, but below it there was a corpse in a side hollow with a leather pouch filled with birchbark, small pieces of knives and daggers, and an iron battle-club. There was also birchbark with engraved decorations. At the feet of the corpse was a copper camp-kettle with a thin, fitted wooden bowl, stirrups and buckles. The corpse seems to have been wrapped first in silk cloth then in linen. Skull No. 5 from here. – Mound No. 8 (20 September/2 October 1843) is at the same location. Illustration No. 2 applies here [Not included]. It is forty feet in diameter and three feet six inches high. Nothing was found above ground level. Below ground level were traces of accessories for a saddle, remnants of stirrups, buckles, pieces of copper plate, etc. Beneath this was a human skeleton and beside it a fire-steel and a flint stone, a knife with wooden handle and leather [sheath], whetstone, wooden hair comb with fine and coarse teeth, and small iron rings and an iron battle-club. At its feet was a type of copper lamp which contained linen scraps, stuck together and soaked in fat. Skull No. 6 came from here. – Mound No. 9 (21 September/3 October 1843) is at the same location. Illustration No. 3 applies to this entry [Not included]. It is 23 feet in diameter, one foot ten inches high. Nothing was found above ground level but a corpse was situated four feet ten inches below ground level, in a side hollow (as still occurs with the Tatars). – Mound No. 10. (22 September/4 October 1843) is in the same location. Illustration No. 4 applies to this entry [Not included]. It is forty-two feet in diameter, two feet three inches high. Nothing was found above ground level but there was a grave five feet, four inches below ground level. The bones were scattered, probably by wild animals that had lived in the grave, and left noticeable traces

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of fox and wolf hollows. Small pieces of rusted iron, birchbark, and rotten wood were found. – Mound No. 11 (2 2 September /4 October 1843) is in the middle group of the above location, where fifty mounds are situated in a space of five desiatinas. It is seventy-three feet in diameter and five feet high. Nothing was found above ground level but there was a corpse lower down, with a granite slab a foot square and two inches thick, eighteen arrowheads, a whetstone, some rotten oak wood, and rotten sea grass. The human bones were disconnected. Illustration No. 5 applies to this entry [Not included]. – Mound No. 12 (1/10 May 1844) is on the east side of the Molochnaia, in the group of about thirty mounds which also included mound No. 4, above. It is 200 sazhen north of the road from Melitopol to Perekop and 130 sazhen from the Tashchenak river. It is 133 feet in diameter, nine feet eight inches high. One and a half feet beneath the highest point of the mound, the skeleton of a dog and some other bones were found, including a horse tooth. A vertical spruce post was standing among the bones. The humuslayer under the mound was ten inches deep, but it was twelve to fourteen inches deep twenty to thirty feet from the mound. Illustration No. 6 applies to this entry [not included]. – Mound No. 13 ( 27 May/8 June 1844) is on the west side of the Molochnaia, at the outlet of the Korssak river, in the same group as mound No. 7. It is 134 feet, six inches in diameter and thirteen feet, four inches high. Scattered human bones, including a skull, etc., were found in the mound, and also the remains of a corpse below ground level. The humus level under the mound was a foot thick, while it was twice as thick thirty feet away. Illustration No. 7 applies to this entry [not found] It can be concluded that the largest three mounds, investigated first, were only artificial. Mound No. 2 did include the remains of a sculpture. This strengthens the view I expressed more than twenty years ago that there was a snake-cult, etc., on the northern slopes of the Pontus, as described in a supplement to my special publication in Volume XX of the Wiener Jahrbuecher entitled Recension der Raoul-Roechette’schen ‘Antiquities grecques du Bosphore Cimmerien’” (See my “Antiquities on the northern slopes of the Pontus,” Vienna, 1823, 8, S. 104). Misshapen stone images, or field devils as the Bible calls them (2. Chron. XI, 15), occurring on the steppes, are evidence of an old cult, which at one time

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existed north of the Black Sea. Asaria, the son of Amazia, did in 806–763 BC “what pleased God” and would not risk committing sacrilege in the high places, while the people were sacrificing and burning incense on them. (2 Kings. XV, 4) In (724–696 BC) Ahas himself allowed his son Hiskia to walk through fire and sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills and under every green tree (2 Kings XVI, 3 and 4) according to the Slavonic Bible. He was finally able to abandon the high places and to break the idols (2 Kings XVIII, 4). However, he could not destroy them completely, for Josia also began, during the twelfth year of his reign (therefore 628 BC) “to cleanse the idols and molten images of Juda and Jerusalem from the high places and woods” (2 Chron. XXXIV, 3). The Old Russian Hagiography calls such images stone maidens and stone people. When a male image is indicated, the common man in south Russia probably says a stone male woman. I would not deny that individual mounds could have been erected to provide an overview of a region. Possibly, however, there are relatively few of them, and it is my opinion that none of those with a so-called stone wife were raised with the object of providing an observation point.15 It is not possible to obtain more specific information about the age of these mounds from an antiquary, because when these actually contain objects, they are, as in mounds No. 1, 2, and 3, only corpses from recent times that were buried in shallow graves because this was less work, or so that they could be retrieved. Alternately, there are horses, rabbits, marmots, and a variety of bird bones, yes even egg-shells, etc., carried into their still recognizable hollows by foxes, wolves, badgers, and marmots. (Pallas says about the marmots, in Latin, “Habitant plures sociatim et tumulos spulcrales praesertim prefodiunt” Zoographica Rosso Asiatica T.I, S.136). Tumuli in particular were obviously built up but have no corpse below ground level and can be so recognized because the earth beneath them is untouched and a layer of vegetable mould is present. This is not the case in actual grave mounds, at least not in their middle. However with the mounds we are considering here, the humus layer found beneath them is sometimes up to one and one half, yes even two feet

15 At this point there is considerable variation between the draft version in SAOR 89-1604 and the published version in SAOR 89-1-993 translated here.

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lower than the top layer of the surrounding steppe, a phenomenon that even a geologist is unable to explain to the historian. Because no corpse was found in the depths of mound No. 12, opened on 8/20 May 1844, one can assume that bloody ceremonies may well have taken place at the building of simple mounds for sacrifice. The vertical post standing between the bones in this mound seems to so indicate. The second type of mound on the steppe is those tumuli with the skeleton of a killed horse, probably above the grave of its rider, and buried with lead, saddle, and stirrups. Three of the mounds opened by Cornies are of this type (Nos. 4, 5, and 6). Generally, one human skeleton is found below ground, often in a side-hollow running from the pit. (The Tatars in the Crimea today still bury their dead in tombs, similar in shape to a boot. The corpse is laid into the side-hollow and is then walled off at the front, before the tomb is filled in. Whether all Muslims, or even others, observe this rule will have to be decided by orientalists. In this regard, see my essay about Bakhchisarai at the time of the cholera epidemic in 1830 [St. Petersburg, reprinted from Merkur, 1832, 8] and my Russian publication in which one finds the depiction of such a tomb. The third illustration in the table accompanying this summary will serve as explanation of the above-mentioned.) At the same time two human skeletons may be found under the same mound (as No. 5 shows) and indeed in a special hollow. No. 4 seems to show that sometimes, before the killing of a horse, various larger and smaller animals were burned on the flat ground directly above the grave. In the mounds covering these sacrifices one can recognize old tunnels of foxes and other wild animals. This may be the reason why one does not always find intact horse skeletons, but only scattered horse bones, and that even individual parts of the corpse (e.g., the skull) were not lying in place, as is the case in No. 4. I have nothing definite to say about the age of this second type of earth-mound. Learned craniologists may decide whether it is possible to determine to which people or group of peoples from prehistoric times the skulls found in these graves belong. No conclusions can now be reached from other artefacts found in graves: broken pieces of a juglike container made of a common, black earthenware, which is supposed to have contained a wooden spoon which disintegrated on contact with the air, traces of silk cloth-of-gold [filigree], linen, and one copper arm decoration which seems to have been gilded, a broken silver ear-ring, one iron bowl, as well as the remains of iron stirrups and a bridle.

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The third type of mounds on the Azov Steppe are represented by those graves which contain nothing above ground level that has not been carried in by wild animals. They occur near one another in considerable numbers, often in groups. The grave mounds opened in 1843 (Nos. 7 to 11) belong here. One of these was fully five feet high but the lowest was not half this height. The corpse usually was situated in a side pit of the tomb. Although mostly devoured by time, the items found with the dead were: Stirrups and buckles – in No. 7 etc. Remains of knives and daggers – in Nos. 7 and 8 Iron battleclubs – in Nos. 7 and 8 (Mr. Cornies calls these items battleclubs. They are iron, ringlike compositions, which may have been fixed to the end of a staff, to serve as a striking weapon. However they may just as well have been tied to the end of a rope, in order to strike the enemy that way). One copper kettle, fitted with a wooden bowl – in No. 7 One copper lamp – in No. 8 Smaller iron rings – in No. 8 Pieces of copper plate – in No. 8 One fire-steel and flint stone – in No. 8 Whetstone – in No. 8 and No. 10 One leather pouch filled with birchbark – in No. 7 Birchbark with and without burned decoration – in Nos. 7 and 10 One wooden haircomb with two rows of teeth – in No. 8 Traces of silk cloth – in No. 7 Remnants of linen – in No. 8, etc. The fourth type of mounds on the steppe are one to two feet high and lie scattered in innumerable numbers across the whole landscape between the Dnieper and the Don Rivers and the Sea of Azov. They occur at varying distances from one another, so that some are separated from one another by only two or three, others a full hundred sazhen and more. The opening of these mounds shows that they are probably the work of animals, specifically marmots that may once have been the main inhabitants of this region. Under almost every one of these hills one can still clearly recognize traces of hollows and hiding places that have again, with time, been filled with earth. The soil forming these mounds is not the same as the top layer of the steppe but is similar to soil about three feet below that surface.

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To the reports of excavations, Mr. Cornies attached a communication about a round tomb-vault held sacred by the Tatars and situated on the left of the steppe-river Korssak, in the lowland beside the Nogai village Ulkon-Ssassy-Togun. According to the description, it is a quite large round vault, situated in the ground, and built of burned-brick masonry. Tatars make pilgrimages to it and they ascribe a special power to it to heal eye ailments. According to existing traces, the entrance to this structure must have been on the south side while a roughly worked fine-grained sandstone shaped like a coffin stood on the southwest side. (Originally, this stone supposedly lay horizontally over the vault. Mr. Cornies found it standing upright on the southwest side. With the agreement of the Nogais, he had it raised in order to make a rubbing.) It is three arshin and a half vershok long, eleven vershok high, and six and a half vershok wide. According to tradition, the Tatars say this was a monument erected to honour a daughter of Idegu (Ezzrea). This stone is covered on three sides and both ends with an engraved, oriental (probably Tatar) script. Mr. Cornies has provided me with a rubbing prepared with printer’s ink. However it has not yet been possible to decipher the engraving because of the faintness of its script. 720. Johann Cornies. About the opening of a grave mound in Tavrida Gubernia, Melitopol Uezd, in the year 1847. 11 August 1847. SAOR 89-1-1256.16 In April 1847, state peasants from the city of Melitopol, Horda and Peter Geremenko, Grigori Nabaka, Jakov Afanasi, Semen Sangnmeni, and Efim Galitsch came to me with a request that I permit them to open a grave mound at their own expense with the purpose of finding treasure in it. I accompanied them to the mound that they proposed to open, which is eight verstas from the town of Melitopol on land belonging to the town. It is situated close to the road leading from Melitopol to the state village of Novonikolaievka, that is five verstas away, and fifteen verstas from Terpenie. This mound belonged to the first category in size. It was two sazhen high and had a circumference of seventy-three sazhen. Stones had been laid around the mound at the mid-point. The peak was found to have been disturbed by earlier digging.

16 Regarding Cornies’ archaeological digs, conducted on behalf of Petr Keppen, see TSUS, vol. 2, docs. 156, 159, 214, 216, 221, 222, 711–21.

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Because of urgent business matters, I could not be present during the excavation to personally supervise it and to record the results of what was found. I had to assign this job to a peasant who could read and write. The following description is drawn from his records. – The mound was opened horizontally from the top by a pit four sazhen one arshin deep and two sazhen wide. At the bottom, on the west side of the pit, a vault filled with soil was discovered. It was one and a half sazhen wide, one sazhen high, and two sazhen long. As the soil was cleared from the vault human and horse bones were found, then a copper urn containing brass buckles, coral, and similar adornments, weighing two funt along with brass buckles. These are all included with this report except for the urn, shaped as illustrated here [Diagram in margin]. It is six and a half vershok high and eight and a half [vershok] wide. The urn was tipped over and the bones of a lamb were found under it. The corpse was lying with its head to the north, but the skull was in fragments and in no condition to permit any conclusions. Until now, as far as is known, human bodies have never been found at steppe level under mounds of the first size in this region. Therefore it can be assumed that not all mounds of the first size were constructed solely as artificial sacrificial heights but that some also conceal a grave. In the dim past, according to the oldest reports about South Russia, the peoples who now live in the north dwelled here and the buckles found in this mound suggest that they were worn by persons who were respected and venerated by the [Tengesh] shamans. 721. Peter Keppen to Johann Cornies. 14 October 1847. SAOR 89-1-1294/3.17 Esteemed Friend, The Academy of Sciences has thankfully accepted your communication as proof of your willingness to promote its purposes. Regrettably however, the items found in the grave mound at Melitopol have arrived in such a condition that nothing can be concluded from them. Granted, the value of the metal in them was assessed here. It is valued

17 Ibid.

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at about nine rubles. However, in order that this honourable attempt is not permitted to fail entirely, the Academy is prepared to send you ten to fifteen silver rubles for them as soon as you tell me that the peasants in question are prepared to accept this small sum. In no case, however, should this encourage similar investigations [in future]. It is indeed desirable to discontinue such efforts entirely and to leave them for the future. Some of the grave mounds should remain for posterity. As I communicate the Academy’s conclusions to you, I also request that you accept my special thanks for your participation in our purposes. With honest respect, your friend and servant, Keppen.

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Appendix I Genealogy of Johann Cornies’ Immediate Family

[Appendix I is based on the twenty-two-page unpublished Genealogy of the Cornies family compiled by Jacob Kornelius Toews in 1953. It was accessed through http://cornies-genealogy.blogspot.ca.]

Johann Martin Cornies (1741–1814), father of Johann Cornies Maria Klassen (1760–1833), mother of Johann Cornies Johann Cornies (1789–1848) Anganetha Klassen Cornies (1792–1847), wife of Johann Cornies Peter Cornies (1791–1847), brother of Johann Cornies David Cornies (1794–1873), brother of Johann Cornies Heinrich Cornies (1806–?), brother of Johann Cornies Johann Cornies Jr. (1812–1882), son of Johann Cornies Agnes Cornies (1819–1870), daughter of Johann Cornies and wife of Philip Wiebe, secretary of Johann Cornies. After Johann Cornies’ death in 1848, Wiebe succeeded him as chairman of the Forestry Society.

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Appendix II List of Correspondents

Barth, Johann Ambrosius, bookseller, No. 681 Grimmaischestrasse, Leipzig Bartram, Johann, Viborg Finland, sometime visitor to Molochnaia Mennonite District Biess, senior magistrate, Petersdorf, Saxony Biller, inspector Blueher, Traugott, director of the Sarepta Merchandising Firm in Moscow Contenius, Samuel, curator of Guardianship Committee in Ekaterinoslav Cornies, Agnes, daughter of Johann Cornies Cornies, David, brother of Johann Cornies Cornies, Heinrich, brother of Johann Cornies, with business in Ekaterinoslav in the 1820s and 1830s Cornies, Johann Jr., son of Johann Cornies Dmitriev, Larion, master mason living in Gremelsteva village near Peremishl Dohna, Count G., Herrnhut (also Hermsdorf, near Dresden), grandson of Count Zinzendorf, who was the founder of the Pietist Moravian Brethren Draisma, Peter Orens, Grunau village in Molochnaia Colonist District Driedger, deputy district chairman in 1835 Dyck, Klaas, a brother-in-law of Johann Cornies Dyck, Gerhard, Molochnaia resident who designed and constructed various farm machines Dyck, Johann, debtor

Appendix II: List of Correspondents

Enns, Gerhard, Forestry Society member Ennz, Gerhard, employee of Johann Cornies Epp, David, Heubuden near Marienberg, West Prussia Epp, David, Khortitsa Mennonite District Fadeev, Andrei Mikhaelovich, senior member of Guardianship Committee Fast, Bernhard, Halbstadt, church Elder in Molochnaia Flaming, Andreas, Schardau inhabitant Frank, Wilhelm, employed as translator, clerk, etc., with Guardianship Committee Friesen, Peter, described as his foster son by Johann Cornies Goerz, Franz, church Elder in Molochnaia Graf, bookseller Guardianship Committee, originally in Ekaterinoslav, later in Odessa Guildenschanz, Georg, senior judge on Odessa Guardianship Committee Hahn, Peter von, son-in-law of Andrei M. Fadeev Harder, deputy district chairman of Molochnaia Mennonite settlement in 1835 Hausknecht, Caspar Adrian, teacher in Mennonite village schools Heese, Heinrich, teacher in Mennonite village schools Horwitz, Theodor E. Inzov, Ivan Nikitich, head curator of Guardianship Committee Janz, Benjamin, teacher in a Molochnaia village school Janzen, Cornelius, resident in Schoenwiese village Khortitsa Mennonite District Office Kirilovskii, translator for the Guardianship Committee in Ekaterinoslav and tutor for Johann Cornies Jr. Klaassen, Christian, Grunau village in Molochnaia Colonist District Klaassen, Johann, cloth manufacturer in Molochnaia Mennonite District Klassen, Johann, Molochnaia Mennonite District chairman Kliewer, Gerhard, Schardau village inhabitant Koshani, manager at Tsarskoe Selo sheep farm Lemke, Abram, inhabitant in Molochnaia Mennonite District Loewen, David, debtor Mariupol Colonist District Office Mark, Major Martens, Gerhard, employed by Molochnaia Mennonite District Office Martens, Jacob, Tiegenhagen village inhabitant

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Appendix II: List of Correspondents

Martens, Wilhelm, wealthy Mennonite settler, one of wealthiest Mennonite estate owners in the Molochnaia area, and business partner of Johann Cornies Mathias, Karl, Hochstadt village in Molochnaia Colonist District, debtor Molochnaia Colonist (German) District Office Molochnaia Mennonite District office Neufeld, D., Molochnaia inhabitant Neufeld, Peter, Ladekopp village inhabitant Novovasilov Uezd Office Pelekh, Khariton Trokhimovich, inspector of colonies Penner, Jacob, Khortitsa District chairman who later moved to Molochnaia District Radishchev Village Office, Hutterite community Regier, J., Schoensee village inhabitant Regier, Regina, Molochnaia inhabitant Reimer, Heinrich, employed as manager of Iushanle estate in 1834 Reimer, Peter, employed by Radishchev Mennonites (Hutterites) Reuss, Prince Heinrich von, Klipphausen near Wilsdorf, Saxony Riedel, Herman, merchant in Odessa Schlatter, Daniel (1791–1870), independent Swiss missionary to Nogais, author of 1830 book on Nogais Schubert, state counsellor in St. Petersburg, involved with Bible Society Semenov, Member of Guardianship Committee Sieter, inspector for Molochnaia settlements van der Smissen, Jacob, Danzig Steen, Heinrich van, Danzig Steven, C., Simferopol, agricultural office administrator Sukau, Johann, Mennonite resident in Rothenbude on the Vistula, West Prussia Sukau, Johann, employed by Cornies Tihlmann, Johann, Mennonite settler Village offices Voht, Frantz, Rueckenau village inhabitant Voth [or Voht], David, Molochnaia inhabitant Voth, Tobias, teacher at Ohrloff Society School Wall, Cornelius, Molochnaia community sheep farm manager Walther, Ernst Warkentin, Dietrich, Mennonite settler Warkentin, Dirk, Forestry Society member

645

Appendix II: List of Correspondents

Warkentin, P., Molochnaia inhabitant Wedel, Peter, church elder in Molochnaia Mennonite District Werner, Rosenthal village in Molochnaia Colonist District Wiebe, Abraham, Forestry Society member Wiebe, Abram, Rudnerweide village inhabitant Wiebe, Johann, Tiege, later Neuteich, West Prussia Wiens, Dirk, assistant manager at Iushanle in 1834 Wilke, August, gardener on Cornies’ sheep farm Wollmann, Christian, Kirschwald village in Molochnaia Colonist District Zille, inspector at Raeubersdorf near Zittau, Saxony

646

Appendix III Glossary

Arshin: measure of length equal to 71 cm or 28 inches Chetverik: dry measure, also called mirka, equal to one-eighth of a chetvert Chetvert: dry measure equal to 2.099 hectolitres or 5.95 bushels Cottager or Anwohner: a landless village inhabitant with a house on a half-desiatina garden and orchard plot Desiatina: land measure equal to 1.092 hectares or 2.7 acres District Office or Gebietsamt: headed by elected chairman, or Oberschulz, and two assistants Fullholding or Wirtschaft: Mennonite family farm, normally with sixty-five desiatinas of land, consisting of house and farm buildings on a one-and-a-half-desiatina home and garden plot in a village, a half-desiatina woodlot, and plough, hay, and pasturelands in common fields around the village Funt: weight equal to 0.41 kilograms or 0.9 pounds Fut: English foot German mile: equal to 7,420 metres Guberniia: major administrative division, a province of the Russian Empire Khutor: an owned or leased individual farm or group of farms outside of a village Orphans administration or Waisenamt: a district body with executive authority to administer and enforce Mennonite inheritance practices Pud: weight equal to 40 funt, 16.38 kilograms, or 36 pounds

Appendix III: Glossary

Renter or Einwohner: a landless village inhabitant, often young and recently married, who occupied rented rooms in a village Ruble: monetary unit, equal to 100 kopeks; in 1839, the value of one silver ruble was fixed at 3.6 paper rubles Sazhen: length equal to 2.134 metres or 7 feet Uezd: administrative district Versta: length equal to 1.065 kilometres or 0.633 miles Village Office or Schulzenamt: village administration headed by elected village mayor, or Schulz, and two assistants, or Beisitzer Volost: administrative subdivision of the peasantry comprising a number of villages; the equivalent of a Mennonite District before 1871

648

Appendix IV Chronology

1789

1789 1789 1792 1803–4 1804 1805

1806 1805–7 1812 1812 1812 1817 1817

First Mennonite settlers from West Prussia settle in Khortitsa, southern Ukraine, founding Mennonite Old Settlement Johann Cornies born in Baerwalde, West Prussia Start of the French Revolution Treaty of Jassy concludes Russo-Turkish war, extending tsarist control over larger areas of southern Ukraine Founding of Mennonite Molochnaia settlement in southern Ukraine Cornies’ family immigrates to southern Ukraine. Oldest son, Johann, works in brandy distillery in Old Colony Cornies’ family, including sons Johann, David, and Peter, settle in village of Ohrloff, Molochnaia Mennonite settlement Youngest Cornies son, Heinrich, born Franco-Russian war ends with Treaty of Tilsit, 1807 Russia acquires Bessarabia Napoleon attacks Russia Johann Cornies establishes leaseland estate on Iushanle river along southern edge of Molochnaia settlement Johann Klaassen, Rosenort, establishes Halbstadt cloth factory Johann Cornies appointed Molochnaia Mennonite settlement land surveyor

Appendix IV: Chronology

1818

1818 1822 1824

1823–6

1825 1827

1828–9 1830

1831

1832 1835–6 1836

1836

Johann Cornies appointed member of Mennonite Land Settlement Commission to oversee immigration and establishment of new settlers from Prussia Tsar Alexander I inspects Molochnaia settlement Pioneering post-secondary school established by Ohrloff School Society, chaired by Johann Cornies Johann Cornies travels to Moscow, St Petersburg, and Tsarskoe Selo to purchase pure-bred Merino sheep for Molochnaia settlement Molochnaia Mennonite settlement ravaged by inundation of grasshoppers, devastating snowstorms, and other scourges Tsar Alexander I visits Molochnaia settlement shortly before death in Taganrog Johann Cornies leads purchasing mission to Saxony to purchase pure-bred merino sheep for Molochnaia settlement Russo-Turkish hostilities end with Treaty of Adrianople that extends Russian control along the Black Sea coast Samuel Contenius dies (30 May 1830). His office as head of the Guardianship Committee Regional Office in Ekaterinoslav had been assumed by Andrei M. Fadeev in 1819. Tsarist state establishes Molochnaia Mennonite Forestry Society (Verein zur foerdersamen Verbreitung des Gehoelz, Garten, Seiden und Weinbaues) with Johann Cornies as permanent chair Johann Cornies purchases Tashchenak estate Johann Cornies Jr journeys to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Riga, Sarepta, etc. Field cultivation and crafts and trades added to the Forestry Society’s responsibilities. The words “Improvement of Agriculture and Development of Trades” added to society’s title of the institution now popularly known as “Agricultural Society.” Andrei M. Fadeev pays farewell visit to Johann Cornies on journey to new position in Astrakhan

650

Appendix IV: Chronology

1837

1837 1838 1842

1843

1843

1846–8 1846–7 1847 1848 1848

Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia, with offices originally in Ekaterinoslav, later in Kishenev and Odessa, and regional offices and inspectorates throughout southern Ukraine, is transferred from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of State Domains (responsible for Russia’s state peasants, non-serf peasantry, about half of the total peasantry; Mennonites were legally part of this social stratum) At Fadeev’s invitation, Johann Cornies travels to Astrakhan and Sarepta Johann Cornies appointed member of Learned Committee of Ministry of State Domains Disputes between church leaders and Johann Cornies in Molochnaia Mennonite settlement temporarily resolved through forceful intervention of new head of Guardianship Committee, Evgeny von Hahn Hutterites (also known as Radishchev Mennonites) settled in environs of Molochnaia Mennonite settlement and placed under direction of Johann Cornies Guardianship Committee expands responsibilities of Johann Cornies and Agricultural Society to include development and supervision of schools in Molochnaia Mennonite District Johann Cornies exercises authority over Khortitsa Mennonite settlement Crown model plantation established under Cornies’ direction Anganetha Cornies, wife of Johann Cornies, dies Johann Cornies dies European revolutions

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Index

Abidula Abduroman Oglu (apprentice from Barash), 363, 384, 387 acacia, white, 45–6, 115, 454, 496 Achilchosha (Elder), 373 Adrian, Jacob, 403 Adshe, Kurban (First Burkut), 362–3 Adshinir (apprentice at Bulutmik), 360 Agale (apprentice at Bulutmik), 360 agricultural equipment/machinery, 155; chaff cutters, 155, 181, 234, 597; cultivation implements, 390–1; cultivators, 181; feather grass machine, 135, 182; JC’s threshing machine for sale, 34; ploughs, 121, 181, 490; potato cultivation, 478–9, 483, 487, 490, 496; sheep shears, 119, 177; threshing machines, 181, 234, 353, 597; used by Mennonites, 489–91 Agricultural Society: authority over fullholders, xxxii, xxxiii, liii; to Blumenort Village Office, 148–9; and brick construction, xlvii, xlviii; to church Elders, 41–2; and commercial grain-

growing, xl; Corrections to “To Establish the Truth” [Zur Steuer der Wahrheit], 280–2; creation of, xxiii, xxviii–xxix, xxxi, xxxii, xxxiii–xxxiv, xlv; and “Directions for Improving Agriculture in the Southern Russian Colonies,” 565–6; and election of district chairman, 470–1; Gerhard Enns to, 301; formation of, 3–4, 9, 10–11, 12–13; and Gebietsamt, xxxiii–xxxiv; Gnadenfeld Christian School Society to, 106–11; to Goertz/Huebert/Peters/ Wieler, 589–90; to Guardianship Committee, 459–60, 462–3, 543–5, 551, 565–6; to Evgeny vonHahn, 565; headquartered at Iushanle estate, xlii; interference in affairs of fullholders, xxxii; and JC on Learned Committee, xli–xlii; JC to Fadeev on, 180–1, 183, 312; and land allocation/use, xxxviii; mandate, 3–4, 10–11; J. Martens to, 294, 301; and Mennonite secular vs religious authority beliefs, liii–liv; to Molochnaia

Index Akkuia, 113, 197, 263 Akurtchenko, Pavel (apprentice from Bolshoi Tokmak), 387 Alahov, Kuatale (Novogrigorievka), 451 Alakaiev, Bigelde, 275 Aleksanderdorf estate, 380 Alexander, Crown Prince, 54, 56, 74–5, 76, 77, 81–2 Alexander I, Emperor, xxvi Alexander II, Emperor, lvii Alexanderwohl congregation, 461–2 Alexandra, Empress, 76, 77 alfalfa, 236, 248 Ali (Nogai), 167, 169, 457–8, 468 Ali Pasha (Nogai), 159, 163, 195, 196, 204, 225, 270–2, 279, 296, 333 Ali Teklenlatou (Nogai), 419 Aliev, Iusuf (apprentice from Schuiut Dzhuret), 486 Aliev, Iusuf (apprentice from Tiumen), 383 Allakaiev, Bigeld, 254 Alteul, 360; Elder of, 373 Altonau: forest-tree plantations, 181; improvements based on Akkerman, 312 Amorgaseiev, Bilal, 171 Anau (Cherkessian servant), 17 Andreev, Mikhailo, 219–20, 247, 272–3, 288–9 Andreevskii (Elder), 374 Andreevskii (Perekop Deputy Chief), 387 Andreevskii (supervisor of potato cultivation), 476, 483, 542–3, 553, 584 Androsov, Senovei (apprentice; Astrakhanka), 359–60

Mennonite District Office, 477–8, 521; obligations of, lv, 429–34; power, compared to Forestry Society, xxxii; Regier as deputy director, xxxiv; Johann Regier to, 299–300; resistance to, xxxiii; to Rosenort Village Office, 473; and secondary schooling, xlvii; and village mayoral elections, 459–60; to village offices, 93, 117, 147–8; and Warkentin, 557–8 agriculture: four-field crop rotation, xl; Hahn’s circular for settlers, 508, 522–3; improvement of peasants through agriculture, 224–5; JC’s 1838 report, 151–6; as JC’s central concern, xl; Mennonites and, xxvii–xxviii; as model for southern Russia, 183; newspapers, 31, 33, 119, 145, 168, 229, 280–2, 351, 365; productivity of, xl–xli; three-field system, xl; trades and, 597; wages, 155; widening range of income sources in, 233. See also crops; field cultivation; livestock Akkania, 92, 95 Akkerman: conditions at, 513–14; Crown Prince’s visit to, 81–2; elders, 455; Evdokimov and Pelekh’s visit to, 192; Keppen’s visit to, xxxiv, 93; lack of supervision in, 513–14; map of, 169, 176; Mennonite settlements and existence of, 26; meshet in, 157; as model for Kalmyks, 25; Nogai at, 113; as Nogai model village, 25; Nogai villages based on, 197, 312; origins of, 225; police official, 375; sketch of, 186–7

654

Index Astrakhanka, 359–60; cattle plague in, 215; Elder in, 374 Aul, potatoes in, 394, 424–5, 476, 480–2

Anhalt-Cotta: cattle, 90; sheep from flock, 89, 284–9 apple trees/apples, 17, 134, 372, 409 apprentices/apprenticeship: about, xliii–xliv; appropriateness of, 384; artisans, 24; dying, 79–80; JC and program, xliii–xliv, 156–8, 509; JC’s apprentices in 1836, 5; Kalmyks as shepherds, 164; peasants as, xliii–xliv; petition to JC, 278–9; and potato cultivation, 358–60, 456, 457–8; schooling for, xliii; sent through program to JC, 175, 253–4, 256–7, 266, 267–8, 273–5, 284, 320–1, 329, 338, 358–60, 363–4, 383–4, 387, 398, 448, 486, 509, 585; in sheep breeding, 5 apricot trees/apricots, 248, 372 aprons, 104 archaeological excavations: about, 603–4; by Balzer, 605–9, 625–30; by JC, 609–15, 615–21, 638–9; JC to Keppen, 131–2, 177, 179, 198, 410, 621–2; JC to Steven, 582–3; Keppen and, xxxiv; Keppen to Imperial Academy of Sciences, 622–3; Keppen to JC, 129–30, 186, 624–5, 639–40; reports, 605–40 artisans’ village (Neuhalbstadt), xxxvii, xxxix, 23–5, 245, 258–9, 296–7, 311–12, 328, 346–7, 385, 409. See also trades/crafts ash trees, 154, 281, 294 ashes, 30 Askanianova: excavations at, 129–30, 132, 603; newspaper article on, 280–2 Astrakhan Guberniia, xlii, 62; Fadeev in, xxxi, 7, 12, 15–16, 112, 208

Balak, Elder in, 374 Balzer, Heinrich, 603, 605–9, 625–30; to JC, 347; JC to, 359–60 Baran, Stepan, 237 Barde, Stephen, 230 barley: 1840 harvest, 232; 1840 prices, 219; 1841 harvest, 377; 1842 harvest, 592; foreign seed testing, 305; frost and, 35; Hamala, 299–300, 305, 371; “naked,” 169; prices, 198, 206, 268, 553 Bartel, Jacob, 347 Bartel, Peter, to JC, 92 Barteleish, Koshale, 22 Bartsch (District Chairman in Khortitsa), 6 beech, red, 288 beekeeping, 154 Beheiev, Kalu (First Burkut), 374 Bekballa (apprentice; Nevkush), 359 Beokoni, Eftei, 515 Berbaev, Timir, 79 Berdiansk: barley sales, 592; grain merchants in, xli, 134, 342, 357; grain prices, 525; Mennonite families living in, 134; merchants, and Nogais, 237–8; Nogais as carters of grain to port, 121, 152–3; oat sales, 592; port opening at, xl; rye sales, 592; traffic with, 181; wheat delivered to, 152–3, 181; wheat prices, 372; wheat sales, 408, 456, 553, 592; wool market, 510, 516

655

Index 257, 313–14; 1841: 364–5, 368, 370–1, 378, 402–3; 1842: 450, 469, 499–500, 510, 515–16, 554–5; Wiebe for JC to, 1838: 140–1 Blumenort: Agricultural Society to Village Office, 148–9; butter sales in, 233; forest-tree plantations, 181; JC to Village Office, 294; white poplars for, 577–8 Blumstein: Forestry Society to Village Office, 85; forest-tree plantations, 181 Bodai, 493 Boldt, Dirk (Neukirch), xxx Boldt (brother-in-law), JC to, 87 Bolinskii (Chernigov district secretary), 425 books. See under Cornies, Johann (JC) Boschke (Karass), JC to, 114 Bradke, Georg von, xli, 264, 265, 296, 328, 347; to JC, 186–7, 286–7; JC to, 277, 303–4, 346 Bradkii, General, JC to, 584–5 brandy, xxv, 540–1 Braun, Abram, 459 Braun, Gerhard, 72–3 Braun, Jacob (Ohrloff), 476 brick construction, xlvii–xviii, 121, 134, 182, 414, 525, 557, 588 brickmaking/brickworks, 47, 121, 182, 233, 597 Buerkmann, Jacob (Tiege; potato program supervisor), 467 buildings, 148, 182, 233, 269, 277, 408, 557. See also churches; houses Buletmek: Elder in, 373; secretary, 373 Bultruk (Nogai Elder), 455, 522 Bulutmik, 360

Berdiansk district/Uezd: forest-tree plantations in, 572; inspection of fullholdings in, 576; inspection of villages in, 572; spacing of hearthsites in, 573 Berdibulatov, Ali, 455–6 Bereslova, potato program in, 535–6 Berestova, peasants’ deputation from, 508, 515 Bergmann, Jacob, JC to, 358–9 Bergthal: forest-tree plantation, 567; JC to administrators, 567, 568; Khortitsa/Molochnaia Mennonites forbidden to possess property in, 568 Bessarabia, proposed settlement of Molochnaia Mennonites in, 484–6 Bewer, David (shepherd at Tashchenak), 98, 140 Bible Society, xxv, xlv, 423 bibles. See under Cornies, Johann (JC) Bichkov, Marfa, 274 birch trees, 347–8 Bishkova, Marta, 254 Bitshok, Marfa, 321 Blank (Neuhoffnung), JC to, 88 Bliwernitz, Georg (JC’s servant), 5, 128–9, 316–17 Block, Wilhelm (Franzthal), 590 blue-dying, 71, 79–80 Blueher, Traugott, xlii, 409, 456; to JC, 1836: 18; 1837: 32–4, 78; 1838: 132–3; 1841: 349–51, 360–1, 377–8, 415–16; JC to, 1836: 6; 1837: 31–2, 44–5, 49–51, 56–7, 58–9, 71–2, 87; 1838: 100–1, 102–4, 118–19, 126–7, 135–6, 145; 1839: 161–2, 167–9, 170, 173, 176–7, 178–9, 183–4, 193, 194–5, 200–1, 202; 1840: 214, 218–19, 229, 247–8, 252–3, 255–6,

656

Index Office/Agricultural Society to, 41–2; elections, 552, 564; separation of churches from, 501 churches: congregations expressing displeasure/disobedience against state directives, 461–2; Gnadenfeld, xvii, 107; JC as impinging on congregational authority, xlv; Khortitsa, 501, 555; Ohrloff, 39, 134, 139, 235, 562; preachers as examples to others, xxxi–xxxii; regulations regarding acceptance of foreign Mennonites as Russian subjects, 502, 504–5; Steinbach, xvii. See also Mennonite beliefs/faith; Warkentin affair; and names of individual churches and congregations Circassians, 60, 61, 131 Claassen, Christian, JC to, 128–9 cloth: factory, xxxix, 163, 189–91, 192, 193, 194, 199, 202, 215–16, 230–1, 239, 242–3, 244, 279, 325–7, 330, 353–4, 597; looms/spinning wheels, 93; manufacturing, 349, 361. See also flax; sericulture/silk; wool conifers, 493 Contenius, Samuel, 21 Conteniusfeld, survey of boundaries, 250 Cornies, Aganetha (mother of JC), xxiv Cornies, Agnes (daughter of Heinrich), 172, 199 Cornies, Agnes (daughter of JC), 9, 51, 65; health, 31; illness, 199, 201; at Iushanle, 135, 184; marriage to Wiebe, 127n12; mentioned, 7; in Sarepta, 7, 8, 12, 16, 21, 62

Burkut, 263, 358–9, 362–3, 449; Kadia Adshi, 374 butter, 31, 90–1, 182, 233, 240, 311, 372, 577, 596 cabbages, 305, 417 Caltanco, Johannes, 33–4, 40, 49 cameralism, xi–xii Catherine the Great, xi cattle, 7, 124; Anhalt-Cotta, 90; breeding, 90, 596; demand for, 177, 239, 408, 511, 553; feeding, 91; foot/hoof-and-mouth disease, 124, 153, 269; milk cows, 302; Nogais and, 456; number for peasants, 400–2; pasturage for, 401–2; plague (Rinderpest), 66, 167, 188–9, 198, 201, 202, 205, 215, 221, 233, 238; prices, 35, 153, 269; purchases, 101; sales, 158, 160–1; at Sarepta, 136–7, 164. See also livestock Chalil Oglu, Erishep (apprentice from Simferopol), 383 Chalit Oglu, Evishep (apprentice from Simferopol), 486 cheeses, 17, 31, 90–1, 159–60, 163, 165, 205, 221, 240, 311, 596 Chernashinen, Ilia (hired by JC, from Petropavlovka), 5 Chernigov guberniia, Radishchev Mennonites in, 465 Chernigovka, Elder in, 373–4 cherries, 372 Chetverikov, Peter (apprentice at Novovasilievka), 360 chimneys, 29 Chortkov, Ignat Nikiforovich, 47 church Elders, 498–9, 505; District Office/Agricultural Society accusations against, 41–2; District

657

Index 81–2; debtors to (see debtors to JC); and Doukhobors, xxxvii; and education/schools, xxxvii, xlvi; on employees’ religious practices, 5, 157; and Ernst Walther loan from Caltanco, 33–4, 40, 44–5, 49; experimentation with agricultural methods/crops, xlii; Fadeev’s relationship with, xxvi–xxvii, xxxi–xxxii, xxxv, xlii–xliii; financial assistance to Riediger, 405, 415, 420; and Forestry Society, xxviii–xxxi; and David Friesen, li; and Gebietsamt mayoral elections, xxxv, xxxvi–xxxvii; and Guardianship Committee, xxvii, liv; and Hahn, lv–lvi; and illegal fullholdings sales, xxix–xxx; immigration to Russia, xxiv; involvement in affairs beyond Molochnaia, xlii–xliii; Iushanle ownership granted to, 19–21; Kalmyk steppe journey, 52–3, 54, 59–60, 68–70; and Kalmyks, xxxvii–xxxviii, xlii, 137; Keppen’s relationship with, xxxiv–xxxv; and land at Sarepta, 8–9; as land surveyor, xxv, xxvi; on Learned Committee of Ministry of State Domains, xxxv, xli, xli–xlii, 146, 205; and Margenau conference, li–liii; Wilhelm Martens as partner in brandy monopoly, xxv; on Melitopol District Nogais, 214; and Molokans, xxxvii; and Moravian Brethren at Sarepta, xxxviii, xlii; network of contacts, xxiii; and Nogais, xxxvii; on organization/arrangements of Mennonite villages, xlix, 413–14,

Cornies, Anganetha (wife of JC), 7, 8, 65, 82, 168, 172 Cornies, David (brother of JC), xxiv, 192, 370, 470; Molochnaia Mennonite District Office to, 230 Cornies, Heinrich (brother of JC), xxiv, xlii, 50, 57, 309, 396–7; to JC, 1836: 14, 16; 1837: 54–5; JC to, 1836: 5–6; 1837: 46, 47, 57–8, 63, 86; 1838: 113; 1839: 170–1, 172–3, 185, 192–3, 199, 203 Cornies, Heinrich (son of Heinrich), 55 Cornies, Johann (JC): achievements, xxiii; as agricultural expert, xli; and Agricultural Society, xxviii–xxix, xxxii, xli–xlii; as Agricultural Society chairman, xxiii, xli–xlii; allies/official patronage for, xxiii–xxiv, xxxv; applications for positions on estates, 115, 117, 127, 347, 370; and apprenticeship program, xliii–xliv, 585 (see also under apprentices/ apprenticeship); archaeological excavations, 129–30, 131–2, 177, 179, 186, 198, 410, 582–3, 603–4, 609–15, 615–21, 638–9; and artisans’ village, xxxvii, xxxix; and Bible Society, xxv, xlv, 423; and bibles, 31, 93, 140–1, 145, 282–3, 405, 406, 423; books, 31, 80, 115, 117, 120, 123, 127, 168, 242; and brandy monopoly, xxv; and brick construction, xlvii–xlviii; career, xxiv–xxv; community support for, xliv–xlv; crafts/ trades promotion, xxxviii–xxxix; and crop agriculture, xxxvii, xl; Crown Prince Alexander and,

658

Index 427–46; to Balzer, 359–60; Balzer to, 347; Bartel to, 92; to Bergmann, 358–9; to Bergthal administrators, 567, 568; to Blueher, 1836: 6; 1837: 31–2, 44–5, 49–51, 56–7, 58–9, 71–2, 87; 1838: 100–1, 102–4, 118–19, 126–7, 135–6, 145; 1839: 161–2, 167–9, 170, 173, 176–7, 178–9, 183–4, 193, 194–5, 200–1, 202; 1840: 214, 218–19, 229, 247–8, 252–3, 255–6, 257, 313–14; 1841: 364–5, 368, 370–1, 378, 402–3; 1842: 450, 469, 499–500, 510, 515–16, 554–5; Blueher to, 1836: 18; 1837: 32–4, 78; 1838: 132–3; 1841: 349–51, 360–1, 377–8, 415–16; to Blumenort Village Office, 294; to Boldt (brother-in-law), 87; to Boschke (Karass), 114; to Bradke, 277, 303–4, 346; Bradke to, 186–7, 286–7; to Bradkii, 584–5; church leaders (Ratzlaff/Lange/Schmit [sic]/Wedel/Fast) to, 504–5; to Claassen, 128–9; to Heinrich Cornies, 1836: 5–6, 16; 1837: 46, 47, 57–8, 63, 86; 1838: 113; 1839: 170–1, 172–3, 185, 192–3, 199, 203; Heinrich Cornies to, 14, 54–5; to Johann Cornies Jr., 7, 8–9, 11–12, 76–7, 215–16; Johann Cornies Jr. to, 50, 201, 202, 203–4; Dellinghausen to, 146; to Doehring, 1837: 65–6, 73, 77–8, 79–80; 1838: 101–2, 114, 124–5, 136–8; 1839: 158, 162, 201–2; 1840: 238–9; Doehring to, 1838: 118; to Dueck, 226–7; to Dyck (Muensterberg), 47–8; Gerhard Dyck to, 352–3, 358; to Heinrich Dyck, 51; to Elsingk, 457; to Gerhard Enns, 206–7,

427–46; ownership of leased land on Iushanle estate, xxxii; paying Fast’ fees/taxes, as guarantor, 454; political victory of in 1842, xxiii; and potato program, xli, xliii; and Privilegium, xxxii–xxxiii; and Radishchev Mennonites, xxxvii; reforms, xxiii, xxix, xxxv, xxxvii–xliv, liii, lvii–lviii; and Regier, xxxiii–xxxiv; religious beliefs, xlvi, liii–liv; report on progress in agriculture and trades, 1842, 591–9; respect for, xxv; Russians on sheep farm, 4–5; Sarepta journey, 60–71, 72; Sarepta sheep farm project, xlii–xliii, 25–6, 46, 63, 72; Saxony sheep-buying trip, xxvi, xlvi; and second wave of immigrants, xxv; as secretary of School Society, xxvi; and secular vs religious authority, xlv–xlvi; on Settlement Commission, xxv; and sheep, xl; and Sheep Society, xxv–xxvi; sheep-breeding program and, xxiv–xxv; Stavropol visit, 52–3, 54, 58; and Abraham Toews, xxxiv, xlix; travel to Simferopol, 67n24; vision for Mennonite settlement, xliii; on Warkentin affair, 555–64; Warkentin’s relationship with, xxv–xxvi, xxxiii, xxxiv, xxxv, xliv–xlvi, xlv, liii–liv, lvi, 561; wealth of, xxv Cornies, Johann (JC), correspondence: on administrative and other arrangements instituted for functioning of Molochnaia Mennonite District in 1841,

659

Index 423–4; to Kaull, 248–9; to Keppen, 1837: 89–2, 96–7; 1838: 99–100, 104–6, 112–13, 130, 132–3; 1839: 177, 179–80, 188–9, 193–4, 196–8; 1840: 222–4, 262–5; 1841: 343–7, 365–6, 408–10; 1842: 456, 491–3, 511, 524–5; Keppen to, 1837: 95–6; 1838: 106, 129–30; 1839: 185–6, 199; 1844: 624–5, 1847: 639–40; Kiselev to, 404–5; to Christian Klassen, 316–17; Christian Klassen to, 416–17; to Johann Klassen, 230–1, 244; Johann Klassen to, 146, 190–1, 230, 242–3, 325–7, 353–4; to Kniazevich, 214, 347–8; to Lange (State Counsellor), 111–12; to Lange (Steinbach), 251; Friedrich Wilhelm Lange to, 119; to Wilhelm Lange, 17, 405–6; Wilhelm Lange to, 17–18; Loewen to, 104; to Mariupol administrators, 568; to Mariupol Mennonite District Office, 568–70; J. Martens to, 302; to Wilhelm Martens, 125–6, 130–1, 266–7; Wilhelm Martens to, 123–4, 200; to Wilhelm Martens/ Johann Klassen, 40; to Mathias (Berdiansk), 309–10; to Abram Mathias, 541; Heinrich Mathias to, 207–8; to Phillipp Mathias, 385; Phillipp Mathias to, 381; Matthies to, 278; to Mierau, 539; to Ministry of State Domains, 304–5, 493–5; Molochnaia German District Office to, 83; to Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, 1837: 34, 40, 52, 55, 79, 80; 1838: 141, 143–4; 1840: 224, 227–8, 237, 240, 249, 250, 282, 285, 287, 314, 316; 1841: 329, 332–3, 367, 380–1,

351–2; Gerhard Enns to, 354; to David Epp, 43–4, 60–1, 93, 406; to Esipov, 280; to Evdokimov, 331–2; to Eydsen, 138; to Fadeev, 1836: 3–4, 20–1; 1837: 34–9, 52–3, 66–70, 74–5, 77, 80–2, 93–4; 1838: 120–3, 133–5, 142–3; 1839: 163–4, 180–3, 191–2; 1840: 232–5, 245, 258–60, 310–13; 1841: 384–5, 413–15; 1842: 464–5, 512, 526–7; Fadeev to, 1836: 9, 15–16, 18–19, 25–6; 1837: 55–6, 59–60; 1839: 187, 195–6, 208; 1840: 296–7; 1841: 328, 386–7, 422–3; 1842: 510, 511–12; to Madam Fadeev, 45–6, 115; Falk to, 115; to Fast, 461–2, 500–1, 502–3; to Fein, 241; Fein to, 241, 254; to Fletnitzer, 405; to Frank, 40–1; Geyer to, 333; to Gloekler, 474–5; Goertz to, 246, 339; to Goldshad, 144, 160–1; to Grunauer, 302–3; to Guardianship Committee, 572, 586–7; to Evgeny von Hahn, 470–3, 484–6, 501–2, 503–4, 506–7, 516–18, 522–3, 527–8, 536–7, 541–2, 570–2, 573, 576–7, 579–80, 586; Evgeny von Hahn to, 508; to Peter Hahn, 57, 86, 113; Peter Hahn to, 13–14; to Hausknecht, 32; Heese to, 388; to Hekel, 132; to Hommaire (Odessa), 328; Huebert to, 330; to Huebner, 336, 392; to Hutterthal Village Office, 589; information about Iushanle, 588; information about Tashchenak, 587–8; information about the villages, 588; to Inzov, 127–8; Inzov to, 10–11; to Isaac, 285–6; Isaac to, 213; Abram Janzen to, 338–9; to Gustav Janzen, 367; to Kauenhowen,

660

Index 478–9, 480–3, 493, 496, 497, 508–9, 513–14, 515, 522, 523–4, 528–9, 532–5, 538, 542–3, 549–50, 552–3, 582, 583–4; Rosen to, 1840: 224–6, 300; 1841: 342–3, 348–9, 369, 390–2, 395–7; 1842: 484, 487, 518–19, 525, 537–8, 551–2, 554; Ruekel to, 275–6; Sander to, 322; to Schlatter, 61–2; to Heinrich Schmidt, 235–6; Nicholaus/Nikolaus Schmidt to, 251, 257; Peter Schmidt to, 283; to Schroeder, 257–8; to Siemens, 410–13, 547–8; to Steven, 1836: 17; 1837: 45, 48–9, 71, 83; 1839: 156–8, 159–60, 164–5, 166, 167, 171–2, 175–6, 195, 196, 204–5; 1840: 219–21, 236–7, 240, 242, 243–4, 247, 253–5, 256–7, 265–6, 267–9, 288, 305–8; 1841: 322–3, 334–5, 340, 363–4, 371–2, 379, 386, 418–19, 420–1; 1842: 454–6, 476, 479, 488–91, 509, 553–4, 572–3, 576, 577, 582–3, 585; Steven to, 1837: 46–7; 1839: 159, 163, 169–70, 174, 205–6; 1841: 327, 376–7, 380, 388, 402, 407; 1842: 447–8, 450, 578, 580–1; Stobbe to, 362; to Thiessen, 141; to Third Department, 417–18, 529; to Tietzmann, 251; Abraham Toews to, 141; to village offices, 566; to Vorontsov, 20; to David Voth, 367; David Voth to, 299, 316; Mrs David Voth to, 176; to Franz Voth, 71; Cornelius Wall to, 117, 1840: 246–7; Johann Wall to, 139–40; to Walter (Royal Prussian Consul in Odessa), 138; to J. Warkentin, 498–9; Peter Warkentin to, 85; Wernersdorf Village Office to, 354; Abraham Wiebe to, 368; Abram

389–90, 406, 410; 1842: 449, 464, 473–4, 476, 477, 530, 535–6, 540–1, 545, 546–7, 581; Molochnaia Mennonite District Office to, 1836: 4, 8, 16–17; 1837: 80; 1838: 143; 1839: 194; 1840: 230, 240, 250, 279, 282, 284–5, 315; 1841: 417; to Muromtsev, 1837: 75–6, 88–9; 1840: 213–14, 221–2, 294; 1841: 330–1, 333–4, 336–7, 364, 397–8; 1842: 448, 454, 496–7, 500, 504, 546, 548–9; to Heinrich Neufeld, 501, 507, 514, 539–40, 550–1, 552; Heinrich Neufeld to, 505, 514–15, 541, 574; to Peter Neufeld, 285–6; to Neufeldt, 22; to Neumann, 538; Neumann to, 355; D. Neumann to, 407; to Ohrloff Village Office, 454; to Oppenlaender, 477; to Oppenlaender/Blank, 88; to Pauls, 72–3; to Pelekh, 4–5, 499; to Penner, 231–2; Franz Peters to, 139; Johann Peters to, 277–8; to Radishchev Village Administration, 475; Regehr to, 276; Isaac Regier to, 117; to Johann Regier, 15, 21–2, 53–4, 265; Johann Regier to, 115–16, 189–90, 260; to David Reimer, 577–8; to Jacob Reimer, 22; Peter Reimer to, 119; Rempel (Altonau) to, 228; Aron Rempel to, 120, 246; Riediger to, 416; to Riesen, 283–4; Riesen to, 284; to Rosen, 1840: 237–8, 269–75, 278–9, 284, 288–9, 295–6, 308–9; 1841: 320–2, 329, 338, 339–40, 341–2, 355–7, 362–4, 373–6, 381–4, 387, 393–5, 398–402, 419–20, 421–2, 424–6; 1842: 448–9, 451–2, 455–6, 457–9, 466–9, 476,

661

Index 231–2; ports in, xl; resettlement of Prussian Mennonite immigrants in, 380 crops, 510; experimentation with, xlii; failures, 35, 39, 237, 286n34, 377, 499, 511, 520, 592; garden, 87; insurance proposal, 209–11; new, xxxvii; seen as future by JC, xl; transformation to marketoriented, xxxvii. See also fruit; grain(s); potatoes

Wiebe to, 283; to Jacob Wiebe, 497–8; to Johann Wiebe, 216–18, 249, 252; to Johann Wiebe (Neuteich), 64–5, 84–5, 146–7, 260–2, 289–93, 319–20, 403–4; Johann Wiebe (Neuteich) to, 11, 423; Peter Wiebe to, 47; Philip Wiebe to Halblaub, 127; David Wiens to, 242; Klaas Wiens to, 293; Wienss to, 286; to Wild, 59; to Wilke, 369–70, 505–6, 512–13; Wilmssen to, 83; to Zacharias, 44 Cornies, Johann Jr. (JC Jr.), 51, 65, 66, 85, 125; in Astrakhan, 15, 16; Fadeev and, 8, 15; health, 31; to JC, 50, 201, 202, 203–4; JC to, 7, 8–9, 11–12, 76–7, 215–16; and JC’s proposed sheep farm at Sarepta, 25; to Manager at Tashchenak, 51–2; marriage, 368, 410, 422; in Nogai villages, 362; plan for Akkania Nogai village, 92; in Sarepta, 7, 8, 12, 21, 62; surveying/ regulation of hearthsites, 37; at Tashchenak, 135, 184, 252, 410; travel to Prussia, 199, 201, 202, 203–4, 218, 235, 252 Cornies, Johann Sr. (father of JC), xxiv Cornies, Katherina (sister of JC), xxiv Cornies, Peter (brother of JC), xxiv, 6 cotton, 26 cows. See cattle crafts. See trades/crafts Crimea: crown land, 291; establishment of Mennonite villages in, 100, 111–12; estates for sale in, 240; forest-tree seeds from, 195, 196; gray sheep from, 163; JC on, 77, 78, 100; Nicholas I’s visit to, xxxiii, 77; noble lands for Prussian Mennonite immigrants, 223–4,

dairying/dairy products, 90–1, 233, 311, 596 dams, 8, 36, 50, 151, 181, 494, 495, 521 debtors to JC, 50, 224; Braun, 72–3; Gerhard Dyck, 530; Abraham Enns, 329, 389; Fein, 254; Isbrand Friesen, 141, 143–4; Funk, 545; Peter Hahn, 18, 54, 57, 86, 113, 173; Hausknecht, 32; Johann Klassen, 146; Kroeker, 329, 389, 406, 449, 464, 477; Lisovtsev, 203; loan petitions to, 13–14, 43–4, 176, 226–7, 241, 276, 283, 338–9, 352–3, 358; Mathias (Berdiansk), 309–10; Heinrich Mathias, 207–8; Phillipp Mathias, 381, 385; Matthies, 278; Aron Peters, 314, 315, 316; Quiring, 287, 315, 316; Peter Regier, 410; Reimer, 99; Ruekel, 275–6; Schierling, 314, 315; Nicholaus/Nikolaus Schmidt, 251, 257; Schulz, 227–8; Voth, 299, 367; Abraham Wiebe, 368; Claas Wiebe, 314, 315, 316; Johann Wiebe, 423; Wilke, 370 Decembrist Revolt, xxvi, lii Dellinghausen, F., to JC, 146 Demaison, Count, 270, 271

662

Index 114, 124–5, 136–8; 1839: 158, 162, 201–2; 1840: 238–9 Dohamanov, Salaka, 321 Dohmambetov, Permandet, 274 Dosm, Permambet, 266 Dosmainbestov, Pirmambet, 253–4 Doukhobors, xxxvii, 328; building for Novovasilievka school, 452; conversion to Russian Orthodox religion, 331, 334, 337; exile of, 330–1, 333–4, 335–6; horses, 170, 172, 369; mill at Tambovka, 309, 315; and Molokans, 493, 523; move to Transcaucasus, 523; proposed mill construction at Tambovka, 293; water mill at Tambovka, 322 Driedger, Gerhard, 148–9 Driedger, Gerhard (Second Deputy Mayor), xxxvi droughts: 1837: 35; 1839: 191, 193, 195, 198; 1840: 268, 269, 281–2; 1841: 372, 409, 414, 418; 1842: 450, 466, 510, 511, 550, 592; Great Drought of 1833–34, xxviii, xxix, xxxix, xl, xli Dschanaidin (apprentice), 267–8, 275 Dshunugsov, Abitalip, 256, 275 Dshuret, Shugut (apprentice in Shuiut Dzhuret), 359 Dudkina, Evdokia, 254, 321 Dueck, Gerhard, JC to, 226–7 Dueck, Johann, 50 Dyck (Deputy Mayor), 48 Dyck, Aron, 111 Dyck, Gerhard (Ohrloff), 473, 530 Dyck, Gerhard, to JC, 352–3, 358 Dyck, Heinrich (West Prussia), 16; JC to, 51 Dyck, Jacob (Khortitsa church Elder), l, 501, 503, 555, 561–2

Denser (re Anhalt-Cotter rams), 248–9 Didkin, Evdokia, 274 “Directions for Improving Agriculture in the Southern Russian Colonies,” 565–6 District Chairman: importance of position, xxxv–xxxvi; and peasant reform, xxxv–xxxvi District Chairman elections: 1837–38, xxxv–xxxvii, xliv, l, 122–3, 127–8, 133, 142–3; 1841–42, xliv, xlix–liii, liv–lvii, 426, 459–63, 470–1, 557–60; death of Regier in 1842, lvi; Friesen as 1841–42 candidate, l, li, 459, 460; in Fuerstenwerder, 517; Hahn and, lii, liv, lv–lvii; Johannes Neufeld as interim deputy mayor, lvi; Neufeld as replacement for Abraham Toews, 459; Penner as 1841–42 candidate, l, li, lii, 426, 459, 463; Regier in 1838 election, xxxvi–xxxvii, 122–3, 127–8, 142–3; Regier in 1841 election, xlv, l; Regier’s death and, lvi; Regier’s reappointment and, xxxvi–xxxvii, 122–3, 127–8, 142–3; Peter Toews as candidate in 1841–42, xlix, l–lii, liv, lvi; Abraham Toews in, xxxvi–xxxvii, lvi, 122–3, 127–8, 142–3, 463, 471, 478; Warkentin and, xxxv, xxxvi, xxxvii, xlix, l–liv Dneprov Uezd: peasant use of crown lands in, 348; peasants’ horses in, 369, 399–400; potato cultivation in, 394 Doberan wool exhibition, 332–3 Doehring, Daniel, xliii, 191, 193, 195, 219; to JC, 1838: 118; JC to, 1837: 65–6, 73, 77–8, 79–80, 1838: 101–2,

663

Index Epp, Clas (Prangenau), 8 Epp, David, 203; JC to, 43–4, 60–1, 93, 406; Wiebe to, 282–3 Esipov: JC to, 280; sketches of dwellings/agricultural buildings, 277 esparcet, 576, 578 Esten (judge), 583 Evdokimenko (Deputy Director of Guardianship Committee), 182, 187 Evdokimov (Chief Curator), 142 Evdokimov (State Counsellor), 141, 191–2, 311, 414; JC to, 331–2 Evdokimov, General, 74 Eydsen, Cornelius, 136, 137, 158; JC to, 138

Dyck, Johann, 16–17 Dyck (Muensterberg), JC to, 47–8 Ediger, Peter (Lindenau; potato program supervisor), 467 Edinokhta, 263, 359, 362–3; meshet in, 157; potato cultivation in, 359; tree planting in, 271–2 education, 155–6, 159 Efimenko (former assessor), 363 Efimenko, Stepan (apprentice from Chernigovka), 253, 274 Efremov, Vasily (apprentice from Aleksandrovskoe), 585 Egaitamgale, 360 Ekaterinoslav: Fadeev in, xxvi; orchard in, 134; sheep, 103; wool market, 58, 66, 71–2, 131, 351 Elders. See church Elders elms, 493, 544, 545 Elsingk (Counsellor in Taganrog), 335, 466 Elsingk (Taganrog), JC to, 457 Engelhard, Georg, 200 Enns, Abraham (Neukirch; debtor to JC), 329, 389 Enns, Gerhard (Altonau), lii–liv, 13, 74, 355, 418, 582; to Agricultural Society, 301; to Fast, 461–2; to JC, 354; JC to, 206–7, 351–2; to Warkentin, 498–9 Enns, Peter (Altonau), 418 environmental data: atmospheric temperatures, 235–6; barometer for, 365, 409–10, 456, 493; case of meteorological instruments for, 257–8, 264, 314, 343; temperature in wells, 223; temperatures, 421; water tables in wells, 420–1, 488–9; weather, 223, 327

Fadeev, Andrei Michaelovich, 5, 13; and 1838 elections, xxxvi–xxvii; and afforestation program, xxvii; and Agricultural Society, xxviii–xxix, xxxi; ambitiousness of, xxvi; in Astrakhan, xxxi, xxxii, 7, 12, 112, 208; as Chief Curator for Kalmyks, 7; Cornies and, xxxi–xxxii; death of daughter, 511–12, 526; as Deputy Civilian Government of Saratov, 384; and Guardianship Committee, xxvi–xxvii; to JC, 1836: 9, 15–16, 18–19, 20–1, 25–6; 1837: 55–6, 59–60; 1839: 187, 195–6, 208; 1840: 245, 296–7; 1841: 328, 386–7, 422–3; 1842: 510, 511–12; and JC Jr., 8, 15; JC on, 112; JC to, 1836: 3–4; 1837: 34–9, 52–3, 66–70, 74–5, 77, 80–2, 93–4; 1838: 120–3, 133–5, 142–3; 1839: 163–4, 180–3, 191–2; 1840: 232–5, 258–60, 310–13; 1841: 384–5, 413–15; 1842: 464–5, 512, 526–7;

664

Index Fein, Friedrich, to JC, 241, 254 Fein, purchase of ewes from, 88–9 fences, 29, 525 fertilization, 151, 181, 544–5, 592 field cultivation, 310–11, 324; advancement of, 234, 259; as becoming primary basis of agriculture, 408; employment in, 182; expansion of, 181, 592; fourfield management system, 36, 117, 151, 544–5; on fullholdings, 148; increase in, 151; livestock breeding profits vs, 134; Nogais and, 153; potatoes and, 593; sheep-breeding remuneration vs, 121; top-soil, 593. See also agriculture; crops Fifth Department, xxviii, xxxii, xxxiii, xxxiv, xxxv, xlii, xliii, lvii. See also Ministry of State Domains fires: in Akkuia, 197–8; insurance, 96, 99–100; Klassen’s cloth factory, 189–91, 192, 193, 194, 199, 202; Nogais and, 533; in Sparrau, 194 First-Kahash, 263 Flaming, Peter (Aleksanderthal), Neumann to, 566–7 flax: 1839 harvest, 198; 1840 harvest, 233, 268; Agricultural Society and increase of cultivation, 36, 152; cultivation of, 593; drought and, 268; employment of spinners/ weavers, 597; expansion of cultivation, 181, 593; fullholders’ obligations regarding cultivation of, 148; and linen, 593, 597 Fletnitzer (Pastor; Odessa), 420; JC to, 405 flour, 268 fodder: dams and supply of, 151–2; mixed with wool, 200–1, 255; plant

JC to accompany across Kalymk steppe to Sarepta, 54, 57, 58, 59–60; JC’s relationship with, xxvi–xxvii, xxxv, xlii–xliii; and Kalmyk Chief Curator, 7; and Keppen, 52–3; Odessa estate, 187, 245; in Ohrloff, 11–12; responsibilities, 53–4; in Saratov, 106, 112, 115, 120, 208, 229, 232, 245, 296, 384; in Sarepta, 21; survey of peasant conditions, xlii; at Tashchenak estate, 512; travel to Sarepta region, 55; and tree-planting regulations for fullholdings, xxix–xxx; Warkentin vs, xxvi–xxvii, xxviii Fadeev, Emilie (daughter of AF), 314, 511–12, 526 Fadeev, Madam (wife of AF), 125, 526–7; JC to, 45–6, 115 Falk, Heinrich, to JC, 115 Fast (teacher in Schoensee), 38 Fast, Bernhard, lii; and 1838 elections, xxxvi, 123; apology to Warkentin, 498; District Office/Agricultural Society to, 41–2; to JC, 504–5; JC to, 500–1, 502–3; JC/Enns/Martens to, 461–2; and Nicholas I’s visit, xxxiii, 75–6; and Warkentin affair, lii–liv, 503, 518, 558 Fast, Cornelius, 16–17 Fast, Jacob (Landskrone; previous mayor), 460 Fast, Johann (Berdiansk), 454 Fast, Maria, 129 Fast, Regina (JC’s servant), 5, 129 feather grass, 89, 130, 135, 182 Fedorovka (new village for Semenovka settlers), 295–6, 300 Fein (agent for purchasing wool), 364, 504

665

Index Franke, Wilhelm (Gnadenfeld Elder), lii Franz (teacher in Gnadenfeld), 38, 285 Friesen, David (Halbstadt), l, li, 459, 460 Friesen, Gerhard, 51 Friesen, Isbrand, 141, 143–4 Friesen, Peter, 9 Friesen, Thomas (village mayor; Landskrone), 460 fruit, 16, 198, 404, 409, 511; dried, 370–1, 377. See also specific fruits fruit trees: Forestry Society on, 323–5; increased cultivation of, 593–4; on Iushanle estate, 269–70; marketing of, 594; Molokan plans for nursery, 272–3; numbers of, 593; nurseries, 288–9, 593; planting, 37, 233–4, 325; requirements for fullholders, 148; snowless winter and, 153–4; wild, 520–1. See also orchards Fuerstenwerder: election for district chairman, 517; Thun as village mayor, 517–18, 531, 539 fullholdings: Agricultural Society authority over, xxxii, xxxiii, xxxviii; buildings on, 148; Forestry Society tree-planting regulations for, xxix–xxxi; half-holdings, xxxviii, 147–9; management/ ownership criteria, 147–9; potato cultivation and purchase of, xli; sales/transfers, xxix–xxxi, xxxviii, 147–9; shared, xxxviii, 437–8 Funk, Paul (Sparrau), 545

cultivation, 358, 499; potatoes for, 304; shortages, 153, 166, 167, 168, 181, 229, 499; winter, 206 food: prices, 350; shortages, 313, 350 foot/hoof-and-mouth disease, 136 Forestry Society: adherence to tree planting requirements, xxix–xxxi; and Agricultural Society formation, xxviii–xxix; to Blumstein Village Office, 85; and “cottagers,” xxxix; creation of, xxvii; and first eighteen plantations, 36–7; and formation of Agricultural Society, 3–4, 10; inspection of settlement, xxix; to Inzov, 12–13; JC and, xxviii–xxxi; to J. Martens, 519–20; to Jacob Martens (Tiegerweide), 520; to Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, 228; power of Agricultural Society, compared to, xxxii; Regier invited to attend meetings, xxix; tree-planting regulations, xxix– xxxi; to village offices, 26–7, 42–3, 97–8, 116–17, 323–5, 519, 520–1 forest-tree plantations, 352, 567; Alipasha and, 225; deepploughing, 36; increased plantings in, 594–5; in Iushanle, 100, 134; numbers of trees, 234; nurseries, 91; plantings in, 97–8; progress of, 181; requirements for fullholders, 148; snowless winter and, 153, 154; tree planting in, 234 forest trees: best-thriving, 92; frost and, 134; fullholder planting, 26–7; rare, from Circassians, 131; seeds, 37, 91, 195, 196, 204, 551 Frank, Wilhelm (Odessa), 227; JC to, 40–1

Garwasser, Johann (in JC’s service), 5 Geyer, Tobias, to JC, 333

666

Index Grossweide, election of village mayor, 426, 459, 460, 463 Grunauer, Pastor (Sarepta), JC to, 302–3 Guardianship Committee, 187, 231; and 1838 mayoral election, xxxvi–xxxvii; and 1841 election, li; Agricultural Society to, 459–60, 462–3, 543–5, 551, 565–6; blocking Toews’s/Penner’s appointments, li; cessation of, 404; decline of, xxxi, xxxii, xxxv; dissolution of, xlviii–xlix; and election of district chairman, 470–1; Fadeev and, xxvi–xxvii; Fadeev’s transfer from, 180; and fruit-tree cultivation, 324–5; and future of cloth factory, 244; Hausknecht and, 62; impact of reshuffling of personnel on Molochnaia, lvii; interest in settlements, 21; JC and, xxvii; JC to, 572, 586–7; Ministry of State Domains absorption of, xxiii, xli, liv; to Pelekh, 19–20, 460 Gubka, Varlami (apprentice), 364, 383 Gurshenko, Martin, 40

Gloekler (District Chairman, Molochnaia German District), JC to, 474–5 Gnadenfeld, 39; Christian School Society, to Agricultural Society, 106–11; church, xvii, 107; congregation, 461–2; school, xlvi–xlvii, 106–11, 121, 138, 155–6, 285; survey of boundaries, 250 Gnadenheim congregation, 575 Goertz, Johann, to JC, 246, 339 Goertz, Peter (Wernersdorf), Agricultural Society to, 589–90 Goerz, Heinrich, xxx, xlv Goldshad, JC to, 144, 160–1 Golubov, Mikhailo, 382 grain(s): Berdiansk port opening and growing of, xl; commercial growing, xl; foreign seed testing, 299–300, 305; frost and, 35; harvest of 1837, 66; harvest of 1838, 130, 133; harvest of 1839, 152–3, 176, 177; harvest of 1840, 268; harvest of 1842, 524–5, 529; improvement in quality of, 342–3; on Kalmyk steppes, 70; Nogais and, 345–6, 409, 525; peasants and, 356–7; prices, 198, 201, 202, 206, 218–19, 239, 268, 361, 377, 525; for Radishchev Hutterite community, 566; state of trade, 239; summer, 91; trading in Berdiansk, 134; winter, 35, 91, 198, 248; wool prices vs growing of, 75 grass(es), 176, 177, 248, 259; livestock population decrease and, 545; rain and, 133; seed, 246; snowless winter and, 152; steppe, 344–5, 545, 592; timothy, 242

Hahn, Elena Andreevna von (Peter’s wife; Fadeev’s daughter), 86, 511–12, 526 Hahn, Evgeny von: Agricultural Society to, 565; to church Elders, 530–1; and District Chairman elections, lii; and Guardianship Committee, l, liv; to JC, 508; JC to, 470–3, 484–6, 501–2, 503–4, 506–7, 516–18, 522–3, 527–8, 536–7, 541–2, 570–2, 573, 576–7, 579–80, 586; Molochnaia visit, lvi; ordering new mayoral elections, liv–lvii;

667

Index Hommaire de Hell, Xavier, 195; JC to, 328 Horn, Widow, 566–7 horses: breeding, 311, 399–400, 595–6; demand for, 239, 408, 511, 553; Doukhobor, 172; draft, 596; and glanders, 153; harnesses, 355–6, 484; peasants and, 369, 399–400; prices, 153, 269; purchases for Steven, 163, 169–70, 171, 172, 174; stray, 52, 55, 79, 241, 284–5 houses: brick, 121; construction, 438–9; fire-proof, 597; Nogais and, 409, 419, 447; obligations of building cottager, 453; prices of Russian peasant, 418–19; for Radishchev Hutterite community at Tashchenak, 536–7; Radishchev Hutterite community situation, 580; tiled roofs, 447, 525, 588; whitewashing of, 30 Huebert, Abraham (supervisor of potato cultivation), 421–2, 424–5, 451, 476, 480–2, 549–50 Huebert, David, to JC, 330 Huebert, Elisabeth (Landskrone), and daughter, 589–90 Huebert, Heinrich (Landskrone), Agricultural Society to, 589–90 Huebner (Assessor in Tavrida Bureau for State Domains): JC to, 336; and JC’s debt to Steven, 335 Huebner (on Tatar apprentice from Feodosia), 398 Huebner, JC to, 392 Hutterites, Radishchev community: condition of, 464–5; Elders and mayors for, 586–7; and Hutterthal, 580; JC on resettlement of, 472–3;

and Warkentin affair, xlix, lvi, 500–1, 558–9, 561–3; Warkentin presenting case to, lii, liv, lv, 560 Hahn, Peter, 18, 54, 86, 127, 173; to JC, 13–14; JC to, 57, 86, 113 Halblaub (applicant for gardening position at Iushanle), Wiebe for JC to, 127 Halbstadt: artisans’ village at, 23–5; school, xlvi Hamm, David, 474 harmala seed, 327, 457, 466 Hausknecht, Caspar Adrian, 62; JC to, 32 hay, 184; dams and, 36, 151, 181; harvest of 1837, 66; harvest of 1838, 133; harvest of 1839, 176, 177, 188, 195; harvest of 1840, 259, 268; harvest of 1841, 372, 414; harvest of 1842, 511, 592; prices, 206; quality, 268; in Sarepta area, 63, 72; as sheep fodder, 89–90; shortages, 130, 195; snowless winter and, 152; watering of meadows and, 494–5, 521 hedges, 36, 154 Heese, Heinrich (teacher), 285–6, 351–2, 354, 355; to JC, 388 Hekel (Neuhoffnungsthal), JC to, 132 Helena Pavlovna, Grand Duchess, 397, 403, 415 Heubuden, forest-tree plantation, 567 Hiebert, Elisabeth, 9 Hiebert, H., 9 Hofer, Johann (Hutterite), 521 Hofer, Paul (Radishchev), 586–7 Hoffnungsthal, 65 Holtfreter, Pastor, Wiebe for JC to, 140

668

Index 157; experimentation with new crops at, xli, xlii; Forestry Society headquartered on, xxvii; foresttree plantings, 100; fruit trees on, 269–70; as headquarters of Agricultural Society, xlii; horses on, 52, 55, 284–5; improvements to, 588; JC’s ownership of leased land, xxxii; Keppen’s visit to, xxxiv; leased by JC, 125; plantations, 95, 134; sheep at, 215; sheep sales, 59, 132

Molochnaia grain to, 566; permission for resettlement, 475; proposed move to Melitopol, 464–5; proposed move to Tashchenak, 39, 119, 527–8; resettlement in Molochnaia, xxxvii, 579–80; situation of houses, 580; at Tashchenak, 536–7, 546–7 Hutterthal, 580, 586, 589 Iaremenko, Ianos (hired by JC, from Grigorievka), 5 Ignatov, Semen (apprentice at Astrakhanka), 359–60 Ignatov, Semen (Novospaskoe), 492–3 inheritance, 395, 396, 434–7 Inzov, Ivan Nikitich: and 1838 elections, xxxvii; age/health of, liv, 227; and creation of Agricultural Society, xxiii, xxxii; and Crown Prince Alexander’s visit, 81–2; Forestry Society to, 12–13; and Guardianship Committee, xxiii, liv, 21, 180; Hahn as assistant to, 422, 470n17; to JC, 10–11; JC to, 127–8; and JC’s ownership of Iushanle land, xxxi, xxxii; in Molochnaia, 74; and Pelekh, 584; in Prishib, 141, 142; and Warkentin affair, xxxvii Irsmambet (Nogai, Edinokhta), 217 Isaac, Abraham: to JC, 213; JC to, 285–6 Isaac, Peter, 213 Isaak (apprentice at Egaitamgale), 360 Isnar (on improvement of steppes), 543–5 Iushanle estate: Agnes Cornies at, 184; brick construction at, xlvii; employees’ religious practices,

Jantzen, Jacob (Schoensee), 354 Janz, Cornelius (Lichtenau), 453 Janzen, Abram, to JC, 338–9 Janzen, Gustav, JC to, 367 Kalenitchenko, Paul Andreevich, 468 Kalil (apprentice; Burkut), 359 Kalmykov, Ilarion, 331n13, 334, 337 Kalmyks, 55, 137, 164; Akkerman as model village for, 25–6; Fadeev as Chief Curator for, 7; Fadeev as guardian of, xxxi; Fadeev on, 15–16; JC on, 62, 63, 64–5; JC’s proposed Sarepta sheep farm and, 67; JC’s survey travels among, xlii, 52–3, 54, 68–70; Pallas on, 120; reform of, xxxvii–xxxviii Karakas, 100, 111–12 Karass, 61, 72, 125, 131, 200, 291 Karlanlov (Nogai apprentice), 254 Kartabov, Nigara, 275 Kauenhowen, Heinrich, JC to, 423–4 Kaull, JC to, 248–9 Keldakalko, Dshuma, 21–2 Keldaliev, Kutlale, 267, 275, 320–1 Keppen, Karya Ivanovich, 454–5, 456

669

Index Kisliar, 39, 407 Klassen, Abram (Grossweide), 459 Klassen, Christian: to JC, 416–17; JC to, 316–17 Klassen, Cornelius, 51 Klassen, Franz, 460 Klassen, Jacob (Tashchenak), 7 Klassen, Johann (cloth manufacturer), 33, 39; factory, xxxix, 189–91, 192, 193, 194, 199, 202, 215–16, 230–1, 239, 242–3, 244, 279, 325–7, 330, 353–4, 597; to JC, 146, 190–1, 230, 242–3, 325–7, 353–4; JC to, 40, 230–1, 244; to Regier, 190–1 Klassen, Johann (Ohrloff), 517 Klassen, Johann (Warkentin’s nephew; Muensterberg mayor), xlviii, l, lii, 297–9, 502, 506, 558, 559, 560–1 Klassen, Johann (Prussian Mennonite), application for permission to remain in Molochnaia, 466 Kleinharr, Elias (Hutterthal), daughter, 589 Klug, Charlotte Sophie (Polenius), 138 Klug, Christian, 138 Kniazevich, JC to, 214, 347–8 Kochuben, Count, 160, 161 Kolmombet Utei-oglu (apprentice from Koitshi), 363 Kolosov (District Chief), 337, 457 Kolosov (judge), 271 Kolosov (Regional Captain), 4–5 Kondshegale watermill, 396–7 Kopani, Elder in, 374 Koslak (apprentice at Shekle), 360 Krausse, Friedrich, 5

Keppen, Peter, xxxiv–xxxv, 53n11, 74, 77, 80, 88, 257; and archaeological excavations, xxxiv, 582–3, 621–2, 624–5, 630–8, 639–40; and Fadeev, 53–4; and Fadeev’s transfer to Saratov, 120; to Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1843: 622–3; to JC, 1837: 95–6; 1838: 106, 129–30; 1839: 185–6, 199; 1844: 624–5; 1847: 639–40; JC and, xxxiv–xxxv; JC to, 1837: 89–92, 96–7, 99–100; 1838: 104–6, 112–13, 130, 132–3; 1839: 177, 179–80, 188–9, 193–4, 196–8; 1840: 222–4, 262–5; 1841: 343–7, 365–6, 408–10; 1842: 456, 491–3, 511, 524–5; and proposed craftsmen’s village at Halbstadt, 328; and proposed immigration of Prussian Mennonites, 260–3; responsibilities, 53–4; visit to Molochnaia, 53, 56, 93–4 Khirgiz: apprentices, 363; land for Mennonite immigrants, 410–11, 414, 422 Khortitsa: church, 501, 555; Dyck and District Office, 556; Dyck and Society for Plantings, 556; envy of Molochnaia community, 555; Mennonite settlement, 380; Mennonites wishing to resettle from, 568, 571; mulberry plantation, 134; sheep raising in, 233; state of grain/hay crops, 525; wool sales in, 6 Kiselev, Pavel Dmitrievich, xxviii, xxxix, 261, 369, 391, 408, 413–14, 465; to JC, 404–5; visit to Iushanle, xlix; visit to Molochnaia, 384–5, 386, 390–1 Kisildingoglu, 263, 419, 449, 493

670

Index larch seeds, 7, 104, 119, 145 Large Flemish Congregation (Warkentin congregation), xlv; beliefs, 556–7; division of, lvii, 506, 517, 563–4, 577; election of Elders, 541–2, 550–1; removal of Warkentin, 539–40; and temporal authority, 556–7; Warkentin as leader of, xxv Learned Committee, Ministry of State Domains. See under Ministry of State Domains Levashev, Eftei (Novospaskoe), 492–3 library, 156, 598. See also books Lichtenau, building cottager houses in, 453 Lichtenau congregation: election of Elder for, 514, 517, 539–40, 541, 542, 550–1, 564, 565, 576–7; formation of, 506, 507, 517; members joining, 574–5; second Elder for, 515; and state directives, 461–2 Liebenau, election of village mayor, 426, 459, 460, 463 lime, 182, 233 Lindenau, forest-tree plantations, 181, 520 linen, 593, 597 linseed, 166 Lisovtsev (debtor to JC), 203 livestock: apprentices and, 157; barn feeding, 235; crop agriculture vs, xl; decreasing size of herds, 545; demand for, 525; drought and thinness of, 198; fodder, 35; hoofand-mouth disease, 136; illnesses, 153; kept by state peasants, 349–50; Nogais and, 409; peasants

Kroeker, Martin (Margenau), 329, 389, 406, 449, 464, 477 Kulpedin Umer Oglu (Tatar apprentice from Feodosia), 383, 384, 387, 486 Kurmash (apprentice at Shuiut Dzhuret), 359 Kurtamet Dshanibek-Ogli (Nogai), 371 Kusitskin, Pavel (apprentice at Novovasilievka), 360 Ladekopp: Crown Prince in, 81; forest-tree plantations, 181 Lamchenko,Teodor (Novogrigorievka), 451 Lananenko, Cornei, 5–6 Lananenko, Prokop (shepherd), 5–6, 55, 170–1, 172, 185 landlessness, xxvii, xxix, xxxviii–xxxix, xlii, xlvii Landskrone, 234; election of village mayor, 426, 459, 460, 463; as new village, 182; survey of boundaries, 250 Lange (Steinbach), 216; JC to, 251 Lange, Benjamin, 111 Lange, F. (West Prussia), 203 Lange, Friederike Henriette (Klug), 138 Lange, Friedrich Wilhelm (teacher/ church Elder; Gnadenfeld), xlvi, 110, 138, 502n39, 517; to JC, 119 Lange, W., to JC, 504–5 Lange, Wilhelm (teacher/church Elder; Gnadenfeld), xlvi, 75–6, 110, 123, 265; District Office/ Agricultural Society to, 41–2; to JC, 17–18; JC to, 17, 405–6; and Warkentin affair, xxxiii, xxxvi Lange (State Counsellor), JC to, 111–12

671

Index JC to Mennonite District Office, 568–70; Khortitsa Mennonites settling in, 571; Mennonite District Office secretary, 571–2; plantings in, 568–72; repeal of purchases by Khortitsa/Molochnaia Mennonites in, 570; water levels, 448, 489 Marmont, Auguste Frédéric, 120–1, 133 marriages: of children, Mennonite faith and, 312–13; engagements in Hutterthal, 589; permission for, 549 Martens, Gerhard (d. 1838), 135 Martens, H., 423 Martens, J.: to Agricultural Society, 294, 301; to JC, 302 Martens, Jacob (of Ohrloff church congregation), lii–liv; to Fast, 461–2; to Warkentin, 498–9 Martens, Jacob (Tiegerweide), Forestry Society to, 519–20 Martens, Wilhelm, 13, 14, 33, 141; and Carlsbad, 245; Fadeev and, 16, 187, 195, 208, 245, 297; health of, 39, 183, 192, 312; hypochondria, 39, 53, 82, 235; to JC, 123–4, 200; JC as partner in brandy monopoly, xxv; JC to, 40, 125–6, 130–1, 266–7; Justina Willms stepdaughter of, 368n29; at Piatigorsk, 122, 142, 195, 235, 260; sale of businesses, 312; and Walther’s promissory note, 44–5 Matashev, Kuscp, 22 Mathias, Abram, JC to, 541 Mathias, Carl, 249 Mathias, Heinrich, to JC, 207–8 Mathias, Phillipp: to JC, 381; JC to, 385

and grain vs, 357; removal/burial of carcasses (carrion), 30. See also cattle; horses; sheep Loewen, Abram (Blumstein), 521 Loewen, Jakob, 242 Loewen, Peter, to JC, 104 looms/spinning wheels, numbers of, 93 lucerne, 499, 578 Luinov, Tulesh (Nogai from Second Burkut), 457 Lushchin, Mr (sheep seller), 168 madder, 516, 577 Maloi (Chernigov district chairman), 425–6 Maloi, Luka, 249 Malokmak, Elder in, 374 Malorenko, Omelko (hired by JC, from Grigorievka), 5 manuring, 580–1, 592 maple, white, 294 maps, 139–40, 166, 169, 176, 204, 239 Marchenko (Tokmak district chairman), 336 Margenau: conference, li–liii; potatoes in, 535 Margenau congregation: election of Elder for, 514, 540, 577; formation of, 506, 507, 517 Marhulu (Akkerman), 104 Maria Mikhailovna, Grand Duchess, 397, 415 Mariupol: Colonist District, 5; forest-tree seeds for, 551; grain harvests, 525; improvement of fullholdings, 568–72; inspection of fullholdings in, 576; inspection of villages in Mennonite District, 568–72; JC to administrators, 568;

672

Index 111–12, 438–9; health, 414; inheritance procedures/rules, 395, 434–7; Keppen, and desire for administrative changes, 94; land division among fullholdings, 396; Nicholas I’s praise for, 404–5; obligations for settlement on unsettled crown lands, 438–42, 525; Privilegium for, xxiv, xxvii–xxviii, xxxii–xxxiii, xxxvi, xlix, l, lv–lvi, lviii; proposed settlement in Bessarabia, 484–6; resettlement in Crimea, 380; as role model, xliv, liii, lv–lvi; Russian nationalism and, xii; second wave of immigrants, xxv; settlement in Vitebsk/Mogilev guberniias, 525; settlements as “daughter colonies,” xlii; settlements in Crimea, 100; settlements in Tatar land, 105–6; successive waves of immigration, xii. See also Prussian Mennonites Menz (Sarepta community director), 58, 67 Mierau, Peter, JC to, 539 Mikhailovka: Elder in, 374; potato program in, 532–3 Miliutin, Nikolai Alekseevich, 95 milk, 90–1, 137, 161; sheep, 238 millet, 205, 234, 377, 529, 553 Ministry of State Domains, 174, 175, 224; colonial settlements under, 106; consequences of creation, lvii; creation of, xxviii; Domains Bureau, 413; as eclipsing Guardianship Committee, xli; Guardianship Committee absorbed into, xxiii, liv; JC to, 304–5, 493–5; Keppen and, xxxiv;

Mathias (Berdiansk; debtor to JC), JC to, 309–10 Matthies, Johann, to JC, 278 medicines, cost of, 450 Meglarip Boday (Nogai), 147 Meglemambet (Nogai from Agilchosha), 147 Melitopol, 39; apprentices in potato program, 456; Great Russians in, 492; JC on Nogais of, 214; peasants’ horses in, 369, 399–400; potato cultivation in, 394; potato program in, 466–7, 552–3; Radishchev Mennonites to be moved to, 464–5 Mengli, Baiboro (Nogai from Susukan), 335 Mennonite beliefs/faith: and brick construction, xlvii–xviii; marriage of children, 312–13; prosperity of Molochnaia Mennonites and, 555; punishment of brothers in, xlviii, lii, 297–9; and secular vs religious authority, xlv–xlviii, l, li–lii, liii–liv, 461–2; and Warkentin affair, xlv–xlvi; Warkentin congregation and, 562; Warkentin’s beliefs vs, 556. See also churches Mennonites: acceptance as Russian subjects, 502, 504–5; advantages of, 94; agriculturalism of, xxvii–xxviii; as agriculturalists, xxiv; community obligations, 395, 396; compilation of rules governing administration, 386; conditions in Tavrida guberniia settlements, 186; conservative, xxv; customs, 105; establishment of colony near Sarepta, xlii; establishment of villages,

673

Index on the steppe,” xxiv, xxviii; report of progress in agriculture and trades, 1842, 591–9; tree planting by, xxvii Molochnaia Mennonite District Office: Agricultural Society to, 477–8, 521; to church Elders, 41–2; to David Cornies, 230; Forestry Society to, 228; Guardianship Committee to, 19–20; to JC, 1836: 4, 8, 16–17; 1837: 80; 1838: 143; 1839: 194; 1840: 230, 240, 250, 279, 282, 284–5, 315; 1841: 329–30, 417; JC to, 1837: 34, 40, 52, 55, 79, 80; 1838: 141, 143–4; 1840: 224, 227–8, 237, 240, 249, 250, 282, 285, 287, 314; 1841: 329, 332–3, 367, 380–1, 389–90, 406, 410; 1842: 449, 464, 473–4, 476, 477, 530, 535–6, 540–1, 545, 546–7, 581; obligations of, 427–9; to Ohrloff School Society, 300–1; to Pelekh, 23–5; Pelekh to, 297–9, 426; to village offices, 29–30, 42–3; Warkentin vs improvements introduced by, 556; to Dirk Wiens, 241. See also District Chairmen elections; Warkentin affair Molokans, xxxvii, 328; Doukhobors and, 493, 523; and fruit trees, 219–20, 247, 272–3; move to Georgia/Lenkoran, 492–3, 523–4; in Novovasilievka, 451–2; and nurseries, 219–20, 247, 272–3; petition, 130; rumours of banishment, 523–4; tree planting, 288–9 money shortage, 33, 364–5, 414, 511 moral education, xlvi, 38, 155, 597–8 Moravian Brethren, xxxviii, xlii–xliii, 25–6, 160, 302

Learned Committee, xxxiv, xxxv, xli, xlii, 146, 205; Mennonite affairs placed under, xlviii–xlix; origins of, xxviii; Third Department, xli, 159, 186, 206–7, 332, 447, 520–1; Third Department, JC to, 417–18, 529 Mitzkevich (district supervisor), 424, 468 Molochnaia: about region, xxiv; agricultural management to be introduced among peasants, 395; community obligations, 395, 396; compilation of rules governing administration, 386; “constitution,” xlix, 413–14; death rate, 379; health in, 379, 403, 414; inheritance procedures/ rules, 395, 434–7; JC’s description of organization/arrangements of villages, 413–14, 427–46; list of foreigners not approved yet for census, 590–1; prosperity of, 555; river, 448, 488–9; state of villages in, 384–5 Molochnaia German District Office, to JC, 83 Molochnaia Mennonite District: audit of community accounts, 547; duty credits for community work, 442–6; eagerness of villages to improve fullholdings, 579; elections of village mayors, 426, 459–60, 462–3; founding of new settlements, 438–42; health in, 591; JC on administrative and other arrangements for functioning of, 427–46; JC’s dispute with district chiefs, 457–8; JC’s dispute with village chiefs, 467, 468; as “oasis

674

Index Neufeld, Peter (Blumenort; debtor to JC), 294 Neufeldt (Muensterberg mayor), 50; JC to, 22 Neufeldt, Gerhard (Rudnerweide), 228 Neufeldt, Johann (neighbour of JC), 310 Neufeldt, Johann (proposed acting district deputy), 471 Neufeldt, Peter, 351 Neuhalbstadt, xxxix, 296–7, 311–12, 328, 346–7, 385, 409 Neuhoffnung, church congregation split, 477, 492 Neumann, D. (Kisliar), to JC, 407 Neumann, Jacob: to JC, 355; undertaking of, 567 Neumann, Jacob (Aleksanderthal), 566–7 Neumann, Jacob (Muensterberg), 418 Neumann, JC to, 538 Neumann, Peter, to Unrau/Flaming, 566–7 Nevkush, 359; Elder in, 373 newspapers, 31, 33, 55, 119, 145, 156, 168, 202, 229, 280–2, 351, 365, 598 Nicholas I, Emperor, xxvi, xxviii, xxxii, xxxiii, xxxvi, 54, 67, 76–7, 286n34, 404–5 Nickel, Claas (Sparrau), 460 Nikolaiev settlement, 125 Nikolaievka area, 422 Nizhni Novgorod market, 78, 377 Nogais, xxiv, xxxvii, 18–19, 65, 112–13, 252, 409; at Akuiu, 113; apprentices, 256–7, 267, 275, 279, 284, 320–1, 363; as carters, xli, 152–3, 167, 169, 175–6, 457; case investigations, 583; and cattle, 456; delivery of horses, 171,

Mordvinovka estate, trestle windmill, 389–90 Muensterberg, 38; forest-tree plantations, 181; former mayor Klassen, 297–9; punishment of Klassen, xlviii mulberry trees, 16, 36, 37, 116, 134, 166, 272, 280–1, 449, 576, 578, 581, 582, 594 Munsale (Elder), 455 Muntau, forest-tree plantations, 181 Muromtsev (Tavrida civil governor), 77; JC to, 1837: 75–6, 88–9; 1840: 213–14, 221–2, 294; 1841: 330–1, 333–4, 336–7, 364, 397–8; 1842: 448, 454, 496–7, 500, 504, 546, 548–9 Mursa, Aligere (Edinokhta), 362–3 Mursa, Bati (Shokai), 362–3 Musledin (Nogai), 533 Mustapoi District, potato program in, 549–50 mustard, 71 Neufeld (re wool sales), 58, 183–4 Neufeld, Heinrich (preacher in former Large Flemish Congregation), xlv, li, liv, 503, 506, 516–17, 565; to JC, 505, 514–15, 541, 574; JC to, 501, 507, 514, 539–40, 550–1, 552 Neufeld, J. (Lichtfelde), 92 Neufeld, Johann, li, 266 Neufeld, Johann (Halbstadt), 459, 463, 478 Neufeld, Johann (Halbstadt mayor), 82 Neufeld, Johann (Liebenau village mayor), 460 Neufeld, Johann (teacher), 172–3 Neufeld, Johannes, lvi

675

Index nurseries, 154, 593; tree, 37, 91, 134, 154, 204–5, 219–20, 234, 247, 269, 271

174; desired move to Caucasus, 522, 533–4; enlightenment of, 405; excavations on land, 186; field cultivation by, 153; fruit exchanged for millet with, 234; and grain, 345–6, 409, 525; and harmala seed, 327, 335; houses, 409, 419, 447; JC on Melitopol District, 214; Kalenitchenko plundering, 468; Kalmyks compared to, 62; and Kondshegale watermill, 396; lack of mills in district, 308–9; and livestock breeding, 409; Ministry of State Domains and improvement of economic situation, 225; and orchards, 497; and police commissar’s oppression, 467; and potatoes, 468, 533; and seed-wheat from Wiens, 339–40; and sheep, 21–2, 84, 87, 96–7, 147, 153, 166, 167, 173, 179–80, 185, 186, 197, 217–18, 219; and sheep bloating (Raende), 543, 551–2; transport of wagon, 167, 169, 175–6; tree planting, 196, 270–2; villages, 92, 100, 263–4, 346, 362–3, 374, 409, 419, 447, 493, 497; and wheat, 237–8; and wool, 87, 119, 126, 135, 145, 173. See also Akkerman; and names of individual persons Nogaisk, 39 Norlubai (apprentice at Alteul), 360 Novoaleksandrov, 39 Novoaleksandrovka, 382, 467; post office at, 72, 73, 75 Novovasilievka, 247, 288–9, 360, 382, 451–2; Elder in, 374; orchards in, 219–20, 523 Nubka, Varlamii, 329, 338

oats, 510; 1840 harvest, 232; 1841 harvest, 377; 1842 harvest, 592; potato, 529; prices, 198, 205, 206, 219, 268, 525, 553 Odessa: Fadeev in, xxxi; wool market, 176, 365, 500, 510, 516 Ohrloff: church, 39, 139, 235, 562; congregation, 461–2; Cornies family fullholding in, xxiv; foresttree plantations, 181; JC to Village Office, 454; schools, xlvi, 38, 155, 157, 285–6, 301 Ohrloff School Society, Molochnaia Mennonite District Office to, 300–1 oil radish, 11, 259–60, 268, 331–2, 417, 452–3, 593 oil-producing plants, 259–60 Old Flemish Congregation, lii, liv Olga, Grand Duchess, 77 Olsheretovataia, Elder in, 374 Oppenlaender (Neuhoffnung), 492; JC to, 88, 477 Oraskakaiev, Kuti (apprentice at Shekle), 360 orchards, 16, 36, 134; advantages of, 323–4; development in Molochnaia, 281, 323–5; in Ekaterinoslav, 134; Molokans establishing in Novovasilievka, 219–20, 288–9, 523; Nogais and, 497; progress of, 181; requirements for fullholders, 148; setting trenches in, 37; starlings and, 116; at Tashchenak, 505–6, 512. See also fruit trees Orekhov, 39, 467, 468, 480; Grigoretii Agricultural School, 484; potato cultivation in, 394–5, 458

676

Index 23–5; Molochnaia visit, 191–2; and punishment of Johann Klassen, xlviii Pelz, David (Rosenthal), 98 Penner (District chairman from Einlage), 38–9 Penner, David, 9 Penner, Jacob (former Khortitsa mayor), l, li, lii, lvi, 81, 426, 459, 463 Penner, Jacob (Muensterberg), 82 Penner, Jacob (Prangenau), 8 Penner, Johann (Pastwa), 417; JC to, 231–2 Penner, Wilhelm (Mariupol Mennonite District Office), 571–2 Peters, Aron (Ruekenau; debtor to JC), 314, 315, 316 Peters, Franz, to JC, 139 Peters, Johann (Gnadenheim), to JC, 277–8 Peters, Johann (Landskrone), Agricultural Society to, 589–90 Petershagen, forest-tree plantations, 181 Piatigorsk, 82, 122, 124, 142, 192, 195, 200, 235, 245, 260 pietism, xxv, xlvi, xlvii; quietism vs, xlv pine seed, 161 plums, 79; Hungarian, 409; Zwetschke, 372 poplars, 577–8; Lombardy, 496 Popov, Dimitry, 51–2 Pordenau Congregation, 503, 506, 507, 575; election of Elder for, 541, 542, 550–1, 565, 576–7; establishment of, 514 post offices, 72, 73, 75 potato program, 405–6, 584; apprentices in, 358–60, 456,

orphans, 4; administration/ administrators, 143, 434, 589–90. See also inheritance Ortchininov (surveyor), 250 Oshobai (Nogai from lower Burkut), 22 Ottoman Empire, xi Ovsanikova, Evdokia (apprentice from Dneprov Uezd), 364 Paluliakh (Bolinskii’s assistant), 425 Pastwa: snow damage in, 215 Pauls, David, JC to, 72–3 Pauls, Jacob (Rudnerweide), 541 peaches, 372 pear trees/pears, 134, 372, 520–1 peasants: as apprentices, xliii–xliv; German colonists as models for, xi–xii; and horses, 369, 399–400; house prices, 418–19; improvement of conditions, 224–5, 362–3, 365–6, 376, 409; JC on, xxxvi; Mennonite agricultural management to be introduced among, 395; Ministry of State Domains and, 224–5; Nicholas I and, xxviii; number of cattle for, 400–2; potato cultivation, 482–3; and potato program, 371–2, 393–5, 458, 532–3, 542–3; reform of, xxviii, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxv–xxxvi, lvii–lviii; villages, 376, 395 Pelekh, Khariton Trokhimovich, xlix, 16–17, 21, 182, 230, 250, 300, 512; and 1841–42 elections, liv–lv, 459, 462; Guardianship Committee to, 19–20, 460; JC on service of, 584–5; JC to, 4–5, 499; to Molochnaia Mennonite District Office, 297–9, 426; Molochnaia Mennonite District Office to,

677

Index Prokop (shepherd). See Lananenko, Prokop (shepherd) Prussian Mennonites: attitudes regarding Russia, 218; living on entailed estates, 223–4, 260; proposed immigration to Russia, 223–4, 231–2, 260–3, 289–93, 319–20, 343–4, 366, 410–13, 414, 422, 525, 538, 547–8; purchase of land, 366 Pushkarov, Mikhailo, 214

457–8; district chairmen/Elders and, 542–3; Great Drought and, xli; introduction of, 286n34; JC on introduction of, 286–7; JC’s leadership in, 341–2; JC’s reports on, 305–8, 321–2, 358–60, 373, 393–5, 419–20, 532–3, 549–50, 552–3; Nogais and, 468; peasants and, 358–60, 371–2, 393–5, 482–3, 535–6; supervisors for Melitopol area, 466–7; supervisors’ positions in, 339, 347, 421–2, 451 potatoes: 1838 harvest, 151, 181; 1839 harvest, 188, 198; 1840 harvest, 232–3, 268; 1842 harvest, 511; cultivation of, 301–2, 303–4; diggers, 391–2; drought and, 198, 268; and fodder, 152; four-field management system and, 36; fullholders’ obligations regarding cultivation of, 148; harvesting, 592–3; hoes, 483, 534; JC and, xliii; for livestock fodder, 304; mounders/markers, 478–9, 483, 487, 490, 496; mounding ploughs, 528–9; Nogais and, 533; ploughs, 391–2, 487, 518–19, 534, 537–8; price for markers/lifters, 402; rotting, in Aul, 424–5, 476, 480–2; sales, 482–3; seed, 321–2, 354; transportation, 519; weighing/ measuring of, 322–3 Potshobut, Anton, 389 Prilepka, Khariton (apprentice from Novo-Grigorievka), 363 printing press, 265 Prishib, wool washing facilities, 504 Privilegium/privileges, xxiv, xxvii–xxviii, xxxii–xxxiii, xxxvi, xlix, l, lv–lvi, lviii, 67n24

Quiring, Heinrich (Conteniusfeld), 287, 315, 316 Radishchev Hutterite community. See Hutterites, Radishchev community Rakhmanov, General, 8–9 Rakhmanova, Ekaterina Apollonovna (Dneprov district), 546 Ramosan (Shilchodsha Elder), 522 rapeseed, 11, 417 Ratzlaff, Benjamin (church Elder; Rudnerweide), xxxvi, 123, 502n39, 518; District Office/Agricultural Society to, 41–2; to JC, 504–5 reading association/society, 156, 598 Regehr, R., to JC, 276 Regier, Isaac, to JC, 117 Regier, Johann (District Chairman), 95, 187; and 1838 election, xxxvi–xxxvii, 122–3, 127–8, 142–3; and Agricultural Society, xxxiii–xxxiv, 4, 10, 13, 41, 547; to Agricultural Society, 299–300; attendance at Forestry Society meetings, xxix; death of, lvi, 477–8, 558; health of, 53, 182; and JC, xxxiv; to JC, 115–16, 189–90,

678

Index 339–40, 341–2, 355–7, 362–4, 373–6, 381–4, 387, 393–5, 398–402, 419–20, 421–2, 424–6; 1842: 448–9, 451–2, 1842: 455–6, 457–9, 466–9, 476, 478–9, 480–3, 493, 496, 497, 508–9, 513–14, 515, 522, 523–4, 528–9, 532–5, 538, 542–3, 549–50, 552–3, 582, 583–4 Rosenort Village Office, Agricultural Society to, 473 Roshkii (Karass), 131 Rostov, potato ploughs for, 519, 528–9, 534, 537–8 Rudnerweide: congregation, 461–2, 563; snow damage in, 215 Rudolfe, Jonathan, 193 rue, 160, 163 Ruekel (debtor), to JC, 275–6 rye: 1839 prices, 201; 1840 harvest, 268, 311; 1840 prices, 218; 1842 harvest, 454, 592; demand for, 35; ergot in, 188; harvest of 1842, 511; lack of snow cover and, 152; prices, 198, 205, 268, 372, 553; for Radishchev community, 528; for Radishchev Hutterite community, 566; summer, 529; winter, 91, 288, 547, 580

260; JC to, 15, 21–2, 53–4, 265; as JC’s candidate in 1837 elections, xliv; Johann Klassen to, 190–1; in Odessa, 38, 39; and royal visits, 76, 82; terminal illness, and 1841 elections, l Regier, Peter (debtor to JC; Fuerstenau), 410 Reimer (publican in Muensterberg), 47–8 Reimer, David, JC to, 577–8 Reimer, J. Heinrich, 99 Reimer, Jacob, 166, 288, 553; JC to, 22 Reimer, Jacob (Ladekopp), 389–90 Reimer, Johann, 8 Reimer, Peter, 49; to JC, 119 Rempel, Abraham (Gnadenfeld), 106 Rempel, Aron, 111; to JC, 120, 246 Rempel, Johann (Gnadenfeld), 549 Rempel (Altonau; debtor), to JC, 228 Riediger, Martin, 405; to JC, 416; Wiebe [for J. Cornies] HTH to, 420 Riesen, Elisabeth, 549 Riesen, Isbrand van, 98; to JC, 284; JC to, 283–4 Romen wool market, 351, 510; in 1837, 58; 1837 prices, 35, 71–2, 75; in 1838, 131, 133; in 1839, 153; 1839 prices, 177, 184; 1840 prices, 311; 1841 prices, 403; in 1842, 516; 1842 prices, 525; preference for, 58, 253, 256 Rosen, Fedor F., xlviii–xlix, 207, 264, 343, 345–6, 378, 406, 413, 524, 548, 629; to JC, 1840: 224–6, 300; 1841: 342–3, 348–9, 369, 390–2, 395–7; 1842: 484, 487, 518–19, 525, 537–8, 551–2, 554; JC to, 1840: 237–8, 269–75, 278–9, 284, 288–9, 295–6, 308–9; 1841: 320–2, 329, 338,

Sander, Johannes, to JC, 322 Sarepta: Agnes Cornies in, 7, 8, 16, 21, 62; cattle in, 136–7, 164; economic situation, 193, 195; establishment of Mennonite colony near, xlii; Fadeev in, 15, 21, 55, 229; JC Jr in, 7, 8, 12, 21, 62; JC on, 62, 63; JC’s proposed sheep farm at, xlii–xliii, 25–6, 46, 58, 72; JC’s visit to, xlii–xliii, 58, 60–71, 72; JC’s wish to purchase land at,

679

Index of, 213; secondary, xlvi–xlvii, 38, 388; Steinbach, xvii, xlvi, 107, 108, 109–10, 120, 216; teachers, xlvi, xlvii, 38, 121, 138, 234, 285–6, 301, 351–2, 354, 355, 388, 405, 597–8 Schottland, 452 Schroeder (State Counsellor), 257, 264, 409; JC to, 257–8 Schroeder, David, 266 Schulz, Johann (Sparrau), 227–8 Secret Committee on Peasant Affairs, xxviii Sefer (apprentice; Nevkush), 359 Seidamet (apprentice; Edinokhta), 359 Selensheka, Vierka, 286 Semenovka, 263–4, 295–6, 300 sericulture/silk, 51, 100–1, 167, 214, 378, 595; 1840 yield, 259, 264; 1841 yield, 372; and diligence in families, 595; earnings from, 595; expansion of, 595; factory at Halbstadt, 450; interest in, 16, 134, 154, 234, 239, 248, 259, 264, 340, 408–9, 465–6; leaflet about teaching of, 244; mulberry foliage volume and size of industry, 154; Nogais and, 272; numbers of vines, 37; prices, 388, 415; progress in, 181; quality of, 214, 379, 388, 450; reeling machines, 134, 407, 418; status in 1840, 280–1; Steven’s questions regarding, 407; “To Establish the Truth” on, 280–1 Serse (apprentice; Burkut), 359 setting trenches, 37, 85, 519–20 Settlement Commission, xxv Shamenov, Salzakai, 284 Shanshekle (apprentice at Egaitamgale), 360

8–9; Moravian Brethren at, xxxviii, xlii–xliii, 25–6, 160, 302; sheep at, xlii–xliii, 25–6, 58, 63, 66–7, 72, 78, 102–4, 136–7, 164, 219 Sarepta Trading Company (Moscow). See Soerensen, G.A., & Company Schellenberg, David, 249 Schierling, Gerhard (Fuerstenwerder; debtor to JC), 314, 315 Schlatter, Daniel, JC to, 61–2 Schmidt, Heinrich, JC to, 235–6 Schmidt, Johann (Ruekenau), 417 Schmidt, Nicholaus, to JC, 251, 257 Schmidt, P., sending wool to Blueher, 126 Schmidt, Peter, 119 Schmidt, Peter (church Elder), 518; to JC, 504–5 Schmidt, Peter (Steinbach), 56–7, 82, 167 Schmidt, Peter (West Prussia), 203 Schmidt, Peter, to JC, 283 Schmit (Elder; Waldheim), 514 Schoenau, forest-tree plantations, 181 Schoenfeld, forest-tree plantation, 567 Schoenthal, forest-tree plantation, 567 schools, 38, 62, 105, 155–6, 234, 597–8; apprentices/apprenticeship program and, xliii; Christian School Association/Society, xxv, xlv, 213; District, 156; drawing taught in, 166; Gnadenfeld, xlvi–xlvii, 106–11, 121, 138, 155–6, 285; Halbstadt, xlvi; JC and, xxxvii; Novovasilievka, 451–2; Ohrloff, xlvi, 155, 157, 285–6, 301; promissory notes for capital borrowed for construction

680

Index Shicherov (Fatei Zhikharev; Doukhobor leader), 330–1, 334, 335, 337 Shilchodsha, 522 Shishko (inspector), 379, 450, 578 Shkurchenko, Pavel (apprentice from Gross Tokmak), 383 Shkurko, Pavel (Tokmak), 572–3 Shuiut Dzhuret, 359, 419 Shumkov, Sergei, 278–9 Siemens, Peter, 404; JC to, 410–13, 547–8 Simferopol, 67 Slepushkin (Bureau of State Domains), 171, 185 Sliposhkin (adjutant to Evdokimov), 74 Sobotorov, Bilot, 51–2 Society for Fruit-Tree Cultivation, 324–5, 594 Soerensen, G.A., & Company, 45, 145 Soerenson, H.H.G.A. See Soerensen, G.A., & Company Solopa, Jacob (apprentice from Vasilkov), 585 Sommerfeld, Johann Leonard (Alexanderwohl), 98 Sommerfeldt (re Anhalt-Cotter rams), 248–9 Sparrau: election of village mayor, 426, 459, 460, 463; fire in, 194; survey of boundaries, 250 Sparwasser (employee at Kisliar), 407 Sparwasser, Johann (Karlsruhe), 98 Sprung, Johann, 216 Sprunk, Johann, 147 starlings, 116 Statfeiev, Schuit Panfer (Doukhobor from Troiide), 330 Steel, Thomas, 200

sheep, 102; Anhalt-Cotta flock, 89, 284–49; in Askania, 90–1; barns, 90; bloating (Raende), 97, 179–80, 543, 551–2; breeding, xxiv–xxv, 5, 58, 66–7, 72, 78, 89–90, 96–7, 102, 111–12, 125, 137, 162, 182, 234, 595, 596; care, and quality of wool, 229; condition of, 201; deaths/ losses, 89, 90, 118, 147, 153, 163, 165, 166, 167, 169, 170, 177, 182, 217, 219, 229, 237, 311; decrease in breeding/raising, 247–8, 311, 510; decrease in size, 596; demand for, 198, 239, 269, 372, 408, 511; establishment of farms, 73; feather grass and, 89, 130, 135; foot-andmouth disease, 153; gray, 163–4; at Iushanle, 215; JC’s Saxony buying trip, xxvi; in Khortitsa, 233; lambing, 162, 238, 247, 252; leech infestation, 198; liver rot, 205, 217; milk, 238; Nogais and, 21–2, 84, 87, 147, 153, 166, 167, 173, 179–80, 185, 186, 197, 217–18, 219; numbers of, 118, 596; plague, 153, 185, 186, 197; prices, 35, 48–9, 73, 87, 131, 153, 404, 553; purchases, 88–9, 216–17; sales, 59, 131, 132, 144, 158, 161, 538–9; at Sarepta, xlii–xliii, 25–6, 58, 63, 66–7, 72, 102–4, 136–7, 164, 219; shearing, 125, 175, 177; shears, 119; skins, 173, 313; at Tashchenak, 142, 215; at JC’s Tashchenak estate, 83; unapproved butchering, 104; Zigay (Wallachian), 168. See also wool Sheep Society, xxv–xxvi Shekle, 360; Elder in, 373 Shelemechina, Matrona (apprentice from Dneprov Uezd), 364 Shevchenko, Grigorii, 515

681

Index Tangat (Nogai from Akkerman), 22 Tashchenak, 423–4; cattle plague in, 215; community sheep farm, 142; Radishchev Hutterite community move to, 39, 527–8, 536–7, 546–7; tavern in, 117 Tashchenak (JC’s estate), 47; brick construction at, xlvii, 134; employees’ religious practices, 157; Fadeev at, 512; garden, 370; gardener at, 505–6, 512–13; improvements to, 587–8; JC Jr at, 184, 215–16, 252, 410; JC’s plans for, 134; land tax, 194; Molokans to mow grass at, 51–2; orchards at, 505–6, 512; Riesen as manager, 283–4; sheep at, 83, 215; vines/ vineyard, 288 taverns, 47–8, 117 taxes: land, 194, 240, 282; paid by state peasants, 349–50; souls vs land as basis of, 395, 396 Tenbaiev, Menglitalip, 449 Tenbaiev, Timit, 237 Tesmann, Jacob, 284–5 Thauarea (apprentice), 448 Thiessen, Jacob, 143; JC to, 141 Thun, Dierk/Dirk (Fuerstenwerder Village mayor), l, lvii, 517–18, 531, 539, 559, 561, 564 Tichonenko, Kusma (Voronenko), 40 Tietzmann, Franz, 129–30, 132, 249; excavations at Askanianova, 603; JC to, 251 Tilachenko, Ivan (apprentice from Rogatchik), 383 tiles, 139, 182, 233, 447, 525, 588, 597 Tiumen, prince, 291 Tjahrt, Jacob (Rudnerweide), 507 tobacco, 239, 296, 593

Steinbach: church, xvii; schools, xvii, xlvi, 107, 108, 109–10, 120, 216 Stepanenko, Paul, 329 steppe wort, 137, 158 Steven, Christian, xli, 74–5, 137, 145, 158, 187, 195, 392, 411, 414, 457, 622; to JC, 1837: 46–7; 1839: 159, 163, 169–70, 174, 205–6; 1841: 327, 376–7, 380, 388, 402, 407; 1842: 447–8, 450, 578, 580–1; JC to, 1836: 17; 1837: 45, 48–9, 71, 83; 1839: 156–8, 159–60, 164–5, 166, 167, 171–2, 175–6, 195, 196, 204–5; 1840: 219–21, 236–7, 240, 242, 243–4, 247, 253–5, 256–7, 265–6, 267–9, 288, 305–8; 1841: 322–3, 334–5, 340, 363–4, 371–2, 379, 386, 418–19, 420–1; 1842: 454–5, 465–6, 476, 479, 486, 488–91, 509, 553–4, 572–3, 576, 577, 582–3, 585 Stobbe, Elisabeth (wife of Peter Stobbe), 98 Stobbe, Jacob (Prussian Mennonite), application for permission to remain in Molochnaia, 466 Stobbe, Peter (Schardau), 98 Stobbe, Peter (Tashchenak), to JC, 362 Stoialov, Anani (Molokan leader), 247, 382, 452 Stolypin (Privy Counsellor), 389 stone-pine cones, 7 Sudermann, Abram, 315 Sudermann, Jacob, 283 Sudermann, Johann, 228 sugar beets, 11, 246 Sukhoi, Ignat Nikitin, 515–16 Suzhundukov, Mambet, 171 Taganrog, 65, 448 Tambovka, 293, 309, 315, 322

682

Index 202; vandalism to, 407. See also forest trees; fruit trees; and names of specific trees Tulesgov, Diusenbe, 279 Tuleshev, Dusembe, 321 Tulke (apprentice at Alteul), 360 Tushchevskii (surveyor), 250 Tverdokhlebov (police inspector), 282

Toews, Abraham/Abram (Deputy Chairman/Mayor), xxxiv, xxxvi–xxxvii, li, lvi, 29, 47–8, 122–3, 127–8, 142–3, 459, 463, 471, 478; to JC, 141 Toews, Gerhard (coachman), 98 Toews, Heinrich (Pordenau Elder), 575, 576–7 Toews, N. (Pordenau), 565 Toews, Peter (Ladekopp), 39 Toews, Peter (Tiege), xlix, l–liii, liv, lvi, 426, 459, 531, 557–8 Tokatleiv, Baigater, 513–14 Tokmak: church, 157; Elder in, 374; snow damage in, 215 Tokutliev, Begitir (Akkerman), 455 Tomigsov, Adshigelde, 256 Tomishrov, Adchigelde, 275 trades/crafts, 597; cottage sites in villages, xxxix; JC’s promotion of, xxxxviii–xxxix; new, 311; professional tradesmen, 597; promotion of, xxxviii–xxxix; Society for the Advancement of Crafts/Trades, 192, 252; vigour of, 313; wages for class, 598–9. See also artisans’ village (Neuhalbstadt) trees, 281; expansion of plantations, 408; forestry societies and planting of, xxvii; grafting, 114, 118, 162; in Isnar’s steppe improvement plan, 544, 545; C. Klassen’s request to JC for remuneration of plantation services, 416–17; for Lichtenau cottager houses, 453; Molokans planting, 247; Nogai planting, 196, 270–2; nurseries, 247; planting, 204, 238–9, 246; planting in Novovasilievka, 289; planting/growing, 104–5; seeds,

Ulkonbeskekle, potato program in, 532–3 Ulrich, Karl, 5 Ulrich, W., 5 Umursok Kibash-oglu (apprentice from Mustapoi), 363 Unekibeshul, Elder in, 373 Unrau, Daniel (Aleksanderthal), Neumann to, 566–7 villages: adherence to Forestry Society requirements, xxxi; beauty of, 596–7; cottage sites for tradesmen, xxxix; establishment of, 438; JC’s description of organization/arrangements of, 413–14, 427–46; mayoral elections, xliv, 426, 459–60, 462–3; Mennonite establishment of, 111–12, 438–42; Nogais and, 409, 419, 447, 493, 497; orderliness, 38; quality of buildings, 39 vines/vineyards, 16, 45, 46–7, 155, 163, 164, 288, 377, 404 Vorontsov, Mikhail Semyonovich, Count, 21, 62, 76–7, 103, 163, 221, 342; JC to, 20 Voroshchev, Kardon, 382 Voroshchev, Larion, 219–20, 247, 272–3, 288–9 Voth, David: to JC, 299, 316; JC to, 367

683

Index and Gnadenfeld school, xlvi–xvii; Hahn and, lii, liv, lv, 500–2, 503, 531, 539–40, 558, 561–2, 563; JC/ Enns/Martens to, 498–9; JC’s relationship with, xxv–xxvi, xxxiii, xxxiv, xxxv, xliv, xliv–xlvi, xlv, liii–liv, lvi, 561; and Klassen’s punishment, 560–1; as leader of Large Flemish Congregation, xxv; and Margenau conference, li–liii; and Privilegium, xxxii; and Regier/Abraham Toews as district chairmen, 128; and Peter Toews, xlix, 557–8 Warkentin, Peter, to JC, 85 Warkentin affair, xxiii, xliv–lvii, 506, 555–65; 1838 elections and, 122–3, 127–8, 133, 142–3; 1841–42 elections and, 426, 459–63, 530–1; apology to Warkentin, 498–9; Hahn and, xlix, 500–2, 539–40, 561–2; replacement for Regier and, 470–1, 477–8 Warkentin congregation. See Large Flemish Congregation (Warkentin congregation) water levels, 420–1, 448; in Molochnaia River, 488–9; of wells, 474–5, 479, 488, 491–2 watermills: Doukhobor, at Tambovka, 293, 308–9, 315; H. Cornies and, 396–7; Kondshegale, 396–7; lack in Nogai district, 308–9; at Tambovka, 322 Wedel, Peter (church Elder), xxxvi, lii, 123, 502n39, 518; District Office/Agricultural Society to, 41–2; to JC, 504–5 wells: measurement of condition of, 474–5; thermometers, 410, 511,

Voth, Mrs. David, to JC, 176 Voth, Franz (Einlage), JC to, 71 Voth, Tobias (teacher in Steinbach), 38, 62 wagons, 125, 167, 169, 175–6, 221, 448, 479, 496 Waldheim, 39; survey of boundaries, 250 Waldner, Christian (Radishchev), 586–7 Walinskii (Bolinskii’s assistant), 425 Wall, Cornelius, to JC, 117, 246–7 Wall, Gerhard, 8 Wall, Johann (son of Johann), 140 Wall, Johann, to JC, 139–40 Walther, Ernst (Kostheim), 33, 40, 44–5, 49 Walther, Tobias, 521 Warkentin (son-in-law of P. Enns), 9 Warkentin, Dirk (Petershagen; elected Elder of Lichtenau congregation), 565, 574–5, 576–7 Warkentin, Jacob (Elder), 506, 542, 577; and 1838 District Chairmen elections, xxxv, xxxvi, xxxvi–xxxvii, 128; and 1841–42 District Chairmen elections, xlix, l–liv, 557–60; Agricultural Society and, xxxiii, liii–liv, 557–8; apology to, 498–9; beliefs, 556; and brick construction, xlvii–xviii; deposition as Elder, 500, 531, 539–40; and Dyck (Khortitsa Elder), 503, 555–6; as Elder of Lichtenau congregation, 517, 564; exclusion from delegation meeting Nicholas I, xxxiii; Fadeev vs, xxvi–xxvii, xxviii; and Gebietsamt, xxvii, xxix, xxxiii;

684

Index Wieler, Heinrich (Landskrone), Agricultural Society to, 589–90 Wiens, Claas (Kremenchuk), 315 Wiens, David, to JC, 242 Wiens, Dirk, 146–7; Molochnaia Mennonite District Office to, 241 Wiens, Heinrich (Gnadenheim Elder), 514, 515, 517, 575, 577 Wiens, Jacob, 84 Wiens, Jacob (Conteniusfeld; potato program supervisor), 467 Wiens, Johann (Conteniusfeld), 339–40 Wiens, Klaas, to JC, 293 Wiens, Peter, 293 Wiens, T. (Altonau), 423–4 Wienss, Cornelius, to JC, 286 Wild (district chairman), JC to, 59 Wilke, August (gardener), 5, 98, 134; JC to, 369–70, 505–6, 512–13 Willms, Justina (later Cornies), 368n29 Wilmssen, Gerhard (Tashchenak Estate), to JC, 83 windmills, 389–90, 530 Witte, Iulii (agronomist), 264 Woelke, David (Sparrau village mayor), 460 Wollmann, Andreas (Radishchev), 586–7 wool: demand for, 50–1, 78, 131, 313–14, 365; fleeces to be sent to Doberan wool exhibition, 332–3; fodder mixed with, 200–1, 255; loss of, 90, 118, 170, 178–9; markets, 58, 153, 177, 184, 253, 256, 311, 361, 365, 516; Nogais and, 87, 119, 126, 135, 145, 173; Odessa market, 510; purchases by JC for Blueher, 6, 50, 58, 127,

524; water tables in, 420–1, 448, 479, 488, 491–2 Werner (District Chairman), 142 Wernersdorf Village Office, to JC, 354 wheat: 1840 harvest, 232; 1842 harvest, 592; Arnaut/Arnautka, 152, 342; in Berdiansk market, 152–3, 181, 456, 553; blight, 356; blood-(red), 342; drought and, 65–6; foreign seed testing, 305; growing of, 356–7; Hirka, 152; Nogais and, 237–8, 339–40; sales, 87, 133, 592; summer, 152; Tatar Kisil, 169; Whittington, 206–7, 294, 299–300, 304–5, 418; winter, 91, 294 wheat prices: in 1838, 121, 130; in 1839, 198, 201, 205, 206; in 1840, 218, 239, 268, 288, 311; in 1841, 368, 372, 408; in 1842, 553 Wiebe, Abraham/Abram (Rudnerweide), 13, 134, 454; as Berdiansk merchant, xli, 454; to JC, 283, 368 Wiebe, Claas, 582 Wiebe, Claas (Muensterberg), 418 Wiebe, Claas (Tiege, debtor to JC), 314, 315, 316 Wiebe, H. (Pastwa), 9 Wiebe, Jacob, 84, 147; JC to, 497–8 Wiebe, Johann (friend of JC), xlii Wiebe, Johann (Neuteich, W. Prussia), 49, 203, 242; to JC, 11, 423; JC to, 64–5, 84–5, 146–7, 260–2, 289–93, 319–20, 403–4 Wiebe, Johann, JC to, 216–18, 249, 252 Wiebe, Peter (Conteniusfeld), to JC, 47 Wiebe, Philip [for JC]: to Blueher, 140–1; to David Epp, 282–3; to Holtfreter, 140; to Riediger, 420

685

Index in 1840, 248, 252–3, 255–6, 269, 311, 313–14; in 1841, 349–50, 370, 372, 377, 379, 402–3, 414, 415; in 1842, 450, 500, 510, 511, 516, 525, 596 wool sales: in 1837, 31, 33, 35, 48–9, 56–7, 87; in 1838, 6, 18, 118, 121, 126, 133–4, 145, 147; in 1839, 167, 177, 178; in 1840, 229, 313–14; in 1841, 402–3, 415; in 1842, 515–16, 525, 554–5 Wüst, Eduard, xlvi

168, 176, 183–4, 193, 255–6, 350–1, 378, 499–500, 516; quality, xxvi, 89, 90, 103, 126, 132, 135, 168, 173, 184, 229, 596; quantity, xxxix, 153, 229, 248; reduced production, 596; storage, 313–14, 415, 510; trade, 33, 118, 350; transport to Moscow, 246–7; washed vs unwashed, 126, 132, 135, 178, 255, 469, 500, 504, 510, 511. See also sheep; and names of individual markets wool prices: in 1837, 48–9, 58, 66, 71–2, 75, 85, 87; in 1838, 118, 121, 131, 133–4; in 1839, 173, 176, 182, 184;

Zacharias, Wilhelm, JC to, 44 Zid (Burkut), 104

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