... - MtHN°N ,T E LIBRARY 4 ARCHIVES 929.2 D357c c.2 MLA( Cooper Lydia Eck/The Andreas Decker 3 0531 01006 8482 The Andreas Decker Family Record Compiled by Lydia Eck Cooper i The Andreas Decker Family Record Compiled by Lydia Eck Cooper Bethel College Historical Library North Newton, Kansas 1959 . Short History and a Word of Tribute. ^ Since the history of Mennonitism has been written by many able scholars let it suffice to give just a short sketch of our people in order to make intelligible reading to those who may not have access to other historical works Most of our people came from Holland where the Mennonite faith developed from the Anabaptist movement in Europe. Dutch noblemen had granted toleration for a time to various elements of these Anabaptist bodies early in their his- tory. However in the passing of years the liberal rulers died and new ones came to power who either personally or thru pressure from other ecclesiastical sources, did not look with favor on these people because of their religious belief s Menno Simons, a former Roman Catholic priest who had left the church, assembled the believers in Holland and organized them into a fellowship or society. Having been their leader, he became their pastor and later their elder Not being tolerated any longer in Holland, they had to look about for a new place of abode. Fortunately about this time the Prussian and Polish nobility of the Vistula River valley heard of them, and knowing of their abil- ity and skill to transform below sea level land into productive soil, invited them to come and settle on their estates. Written contracts have been found showing how these Dutch Mennonites by groups leased large tracts of land from the noblemen on long-term leases, usually 30 to 40 years, in which were specified the privileges they would have as well as their obligations to the landlord. Covered were such items as the use of forests for building lumber and fuel, the right to sell their produce in the nearby towns, fishing and transportation rights on the rivers, building of access roads and other economic rights. Most important of all, however, the contract also covered the right to worship as they pleased, to bury their dead, to build chapels and schools, and to man them with their own teachers who gave religious instruction to the children as well as teaching the three R’s. They soon built thriving villages where formerly swamps and floods held sway. Two- thirds of the arable land of Poland was at that time uncultivated. These Dutchmen, thru superhuman effort dammed and brought under control the banks of the Vistula and its tributaries, drained the swamps and succeeded in making tillable soil of the once devastated area. They knew the value of good stock and took good care of it. They introduced purebred lines and knew how to make good cheese and butter which had a ready market in the nearby towns. As the land yielded increased income so also had they to pay increased rent But the land area was limited and as succeeding generations came to muturity a land dearth arose. They were confronted with the alternative of finding other means of livelihood or other places of settlement. Some made their living by working at masonry, woodsmanship weaving and other crafts , which yielded but a meager existence; thus they had to seek other places of abode iii During this time Catherine II of Russia had learned about these enter- prising people and she decided they were just the kind she needed to build up her country’s economy. She invited them to come there, offering free land, tax exemption for a number of years as well as exemption from military service plus many other privileges. Also about this time, 1772, Poland was divided between Austria, Russia and Prussia, most of the region where our forefathers lived going to Prussia. Our forefathers were fairly well satisfied with Prussian rule but their emperor, Frederick the Great, needed soldiers for his many military campaigns and he regarded with envy the fine young men of the Mennonites. Soon he de- manded that they be inducted into the Prussian army. This they resisted and another crisis presented itself. Many of our people later took advantage of Queen Catherine’s invitation and moved to the rich productive areas of the Ukraine with its favorable cli- mate and rich soil, spreading to the valleys of the Molotschna and Volga Rivers, where they greatly prospered. Others decided it would be better to be back under Polish rule and moved back into regions not too far from Ostrog where they founded the villages of Karolswalde, Karolsberg, Waldheim and others; near Warsaw the villages of Deutsch-Kasun and Deutsch-Wymischle and Michalin and Heinrichs- , dorf farther on into Russia. So here is where we meet our immediate forefathers when by about 1871, Po- land was taken over by Russia and it meant that all would be integrated into the Russian order of the day. Queen Catherine had died and another ruler had come to the throne who wanted to terminate the special privileges of the Menno- nites. Again, complusory military service was the principle to which they would not consent. Before going on mention must be made here that after some few years the Mennonites who remained in Russia succeeded in making an agreement with the czarist government that in lieu of military service their young men could per- form forestry work which was satisfactory to them. However after the Bolshevik Revolution when unspeakable persecution, oppression, famine and indescribable suffering was visited upon them they bitterly regretted not having come to Amer- ica when they had the chance. Referring again to the Volhynian Mennonites and some of the Russian breth- ren, after hearing of the opportunities in the New World, they decided to in- vestigate the conditions here so a deputation of 12 men was chosen and sent to America to look things over and examine colonization possibilities. Just previously some literature had been received from several railroad companies that were building new lines to the western frontiers, inviting set- tlers from Europe and extolling the opportunities of obtaining cheap land on their right of way, thus exciting the landless masses of these regions to look into the offer. Elder Tobias Unruh was the one chosen from the Volhynian Province of Poland to be the representative of our forefathers. These 12 men investigated the sit- uation in the middle states and Canada. When they returned to their people and described to them in glowing terms the opportunities they would have plus the possibility to satisfy their yearning to own land, and the freedom to live and and worship unhampered it was immediately decided to come to America. They did not obtain the promise of military exemption but were quite assured wars were not in the realm of possibility in our country so thby were willing to take a chance on that. iv Now that the decision had been made to come to America, what an excitement ran thru the villages. Words fail us in properly describing the imaginary scenes taking place in the preparation to move. It must have been a stupendous job getting everything ready for the long journey to the port of embarkation, then across the ocean which seemed especially dangerous to them. It happened that since they left in the late fall, the most of them had a particularly stormy voyage. Their processing at the immigration offices in New York, Balti- more, or wherever they arrived; the long train trip across half the continent to Kansas and from Newton to their final destination. Here they came in the middle of winter to face the raw blizzards on the windswept prairies of Kansas where they were to build their new homes; under entirely new conditions on these treeless plains where there was no wood for fuel or building like they had been used to in their old home, they neverthe- less went to work with courage and fortitude to establish themselves; they proceeded resourcefully to build houses of rock and sod, to dig wells and break up the sod to plant their crops. However it was by no means easy. The Polish Mennonites were some of the poorest of the poor and if it had not been for the generous help of their eastern brethren in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana who helped them get a start, some of them might not have made the grade. While their religious convictions against military service was perhaps the main reason in reaching the decision to leave their old homeland, no doubt their very povetty weighed heavily in the matter and they perhaps felt that at least their children would have better opportunities in the New World, and that they themselves could not worsen their 1 own condition by coming here. But, however one may assess their reasons one can't help but feel that Divine guidance was with them for they could not possibly have known that in a few generations the area they were leaving would be visited by the most terrible upheaval in history, namely the first World War followed by the tragic Bolshevik Revolution and that again by World War II. In reading 6f the terrible fate which befell those who remained in Russia, Poland and Germany it staggers the imagination as to why such cruelty should be inflicted on a peace-loving group. However several factors contributed to the particular treatment which was meted out to them by the Soviet government: 1st.