6. Johann Georg Says,“ It’s Time to Leave !” German Generations Vital Statistics Georg Troester 1603-1689 Johann Georg Troester Johannes Troester 1640- NG B. 01-19-1759, in Owen, Teck Stephan Troester 1670-1755 M. 02-17-1784, Johanna Katharina Attiger,O. T. Johann Stephan Troester 1709- NG His Son, Our Direct Ancestor: Johann Jakob. O. T. Johann Georg Troester 1759-1820 D. of Johann Georg: 11-20-1820, Hoffnungstal. (1) Outline aa. Factors for Leaving aaa. A Timeline bbb. Narrative Summary bb. Earlier Migrations aaa. First Wave bbb. Manifest of 1804 ccc. Second Wave cc. Organizing to Leave aaa. Introduction bbb. “Scouting Expedition” Arms ccc. Harmonies & Permits Arms Wuerttemberg dd. Johann Georg’s Family Imperial Russia (2) (3) aa. Factors for Leaving aaa. Timeline: Religious, Economic, & Political Events Impacting Troester Family History Prior to the Turn of the Century (1) Notice how events come to a head by 1816. R = Religion E = Economy P = Political 1740 R Mystic J. Bengel says Christ will return in 1836. 1758 Our Russian Patriarch Johann Georg is born. 1760s R Pietist Movement takes hold in Weurttemberg. 1762 P Catharine the Great’s issues first Manifesto. 1763 P Catharine the Great’s issues second Manifesto. 1763-1767 Non-Wuerttenberger Migration to the Volga River frontier. Timeline: Turn-of-the-Century Events Leading to the Troester Exodus (2) 1791 R: Griesinger publishes new rationalistic hymnal. 1795 R: Pietist Johann Georg Rapp begins preaching. 1796 P: French occupy duchy of Wuerttemberg. 2 E Citizens suffer from financial demands of French army. 1803 Czar Alexander I issues 3 ukases, enticing “Germans” to New Russia. First wave of emigrants to New Russia (1/2 from Wuerttemberg) arrive. P Napoleon sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States to finance wars. 1804 R: Rapp and 400 followers migrate to America. R/E/P: Czar Alexander I issues Manifesto of 1804 to entice “Germans”. First wave of emigrants continues to New Russia (6,775 arrive at Odessa). R Napoleon crowns himself emperor. 1805 P Duke Friedrich sides with Napoleon; emigration almost ended by war. 1806 P Duke Friedrich becomes a king of W.; emigration almost ended by war P Swabians fight for Napoleon against Prussia. P/R The Holy Roman Empire dissolves. 1807 P Swabians continue to fight Prussia; king halts emigration until 1815. 1809 P Swabian troops fight for Napoleon against Austria. E Wuerttemberg experiences poor crop production. R New Lutheran liturgy waters down Scriptural teaching on sacraments. 1810 E Wuerttemberg experiences poor crop production. 1811 R/P Some see Great Comet of 1811-12 as a signs of the defeat of Napoleon (the Anti-Christ), the coming signs of the plagues of St. John’s Revelation, the End Times, and a time for believers to flee for safety & prepare to meet Christ at Mt. Ararat when He will begin His 1000 Reign in the year 1836. 1812 R Great Comet of 1811-12 continues. E Wuerttemberg experiences poor crop production. P Swabians fighting Russia for Napoleon. P After battles of Smolensk & Borodino, 1% of Swabian soldiers survive; Napoleon’s flees from Moscow, Czar Alexander, & the Russian winter. 1813 P King Friedrich turns against Napoleon during the War of Liberation. E Wuerttemberg experiences poor crop production. 1814 E Wuerttemberg experiences poor crop production. 1815 E Wuerttemberg experiences poor crop production. P Czar Alexander I of Imperial Russsia defeats Napoleon. March 15: King Friedrich reopens borders for emigration! R Baroness von Kruedener urges Swabian Separatists to go to Russia. 1816 P King Friedrich dies; his son Wilhelm I assumes the throne. E Wuerttemberg experiences Great Crop Failure: farmers slaughter cattle for lack of feed; people face starvation. Second Wave of emigration from Wuerttemberg to New Russia begins. First Swabian Harmony leaves in late summer,1817. 1817 Our Russia Patriarch, Jakob Georg Troester decides to migrate. Jakob Georg Troester move his family to New Russia in the spring. 3 bbb. Narrative Summary: Why the Troesters Left The current political situation in Wuerttemberg was a pressing reason for leaving the fatherland. The citizens the Kingdom of Wuerttemberg had suffered through many a conflict, often right in their own backyard. The most devastating war in the 1600s was the Thirty Years’ War. The most recent to create unbearable hardships were the Napoleonic Wars, which drove the nation to its knees. King Friedrich conscripted into military service many a Swabian youth, never to be seen again. Many a wife found herself quartering soldiers, while still trying to care Napoleon (1) for her own family. The Napoleonic wars had just ended in 1815. Johann Georg’s five sons somehow managed to survive all this, but what would the next war bring? (2) Economics was also a driving factor for leaving the country. War had destroyed the nation’s economy. It disrupted planting and harvesting. It destroyed fields of grain. Traveling armies exacted payment as they passed through your lands. The king levied crushing taxes upon his subjects to pay for these wars. After the Napoleonic wars, a series of poor harvests, unseasonably wet weather, and a total crop (3) failure in 1816 completely devastated the land. Peasants slaughtered two-thirds of the cattle for lack of feed. People were reduced to eating bran and bark. (4) Adding to this severe economic depression were crowded living conditions and an overabundance of craftsmen. It couldn’t get much worse. (5) Religious factors especially came into play. Rationalism was rampant in the state sponsored churches. Worshippers especially notice this with the new hymnal, which replaced solid doctrinal hymns with watered down musical selections. The new liturgy down (6) 4 played the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. Many saw the state sponsored Lutheran schools misleading their children with the spirit of rationalism and replacing some of their religious instruction time with additional secular subjects. The reaction of many peasants was pietism and Separatism. Authorities saw this reaction as a threat to social order, especially when Separatists promoted equality among all peoples. This led to persecution and even imprisonment of these “radical” Separatists. When false prophets urged them to leave for New Russia to be near Mt. Ararat when the Lord should reappear in 1836, the suggestion was very tempting. When the Great Comet of 1811-12 streaked across the sky, they saw it as a sign that plagues of Revelation were coming to Wuerttemberg. It was time to leave. (7) (8) bb. Earlier Migrations aaa. First Wave As the new century dawned, a call went out from Czar Alexander I of Imperial Russia. He encouraged industrious Germanic peoples to colonize New Russia. The call come out in the form of three ukases [you- CAY-ses] or edicts in 1803 and his Manifesto of 1804. Already in 1803, the first responders Alexander I of Russia (1) were on their way to settle on the Duc Armand de Richelieu (2) Nogai Steppe between the Dneister and Bug Rivers. Preparing to receive them was the governor of the Odessa Oblast, a French émigré, Duc Armand de Richelieu, who distinguished himself in the service of Russia at the siege of the Islamic fortress at Izmail. (3) We’ll hear more about him later. From 1803-1804, about 6,800 emigrants arrived at the city of Odessa; half of them from Wuerttemberg. However, Napoleon’s war with Austria and Russia slowed the migration to a trickle. King Friedrich of Wuerttemberg banned further migration in 1805. He needed mens for Napoleon’s wars. (4) 5 Note how Alexander’s manifesto meet the concerns of our ancestors. bbb. The Manifesto 1804 Separatist Needs/Concerns The Manifesto of 1804 (1) 01. As Separatists we left the gov’t- I grant you complete religious sponsored Lutheran church freedom. because of its heresy; can we Color Key worship according to our Religious Concerns consciences without persecution? Economic Concerns Would our children be taught the Political Concerns pure Word of God at school? 02. Our taxes have been You will not have to pay any overwhelming to support taxes for the first 10 years. Napoleonic Wars. 03. We’ve been forced to quarter After 10 years you’re considered troops during to Napoleonic Wars citizens, but you won’t have quarter troops unless they’re en route to battle. 04. The king drafted our sons for Your sons will never be drafted Napoleon’s wars. Many died. to fight Russian’s wars. 05. How will we be able to start I grant each family an advanced over? 10-year loan not payable for 20 years from the time you settle. 06. Do we have to leave everything Each family can bring movable behind? property duty-free plus commodities for sale not exceeding 300 rubles. 07. You have encouraged our Craftsmen can join guilds and craftsmen to migrate. Will it be trade throughout empire. profitable for them? 08. We are serfs here? What would You would be exempt from our status be in New Russia? Russian serfdom. 09. What are the land usage Each family gets 30-60 dessiatin arrangements & when do we of productive land. After the pay taxes and pay off loans? first 10 years, police dues & annual land tax (15-20 kopecks/ dissiatin) are payable. 10. What if we don’t like it in New You may return after paying Russia? your Crown debts & 3 years of land tax. 6 ccc. Second Wave The Rhine-Franconian migration between 1808-1809 was the second large Germanic migration to New Russia. Because of King Friedrich’s ban on emigration, it contained relatively few from Wuerttemberg. Most came from the Rhineland plains of Baden, Alsace, and Palatinate.