VOLUME 47, NO. 2 – June 2021 Mennonite Historian A PUBLICATION OF THE MENNONITE HERITAGE ARCHIVES and THE CENTRE FOR MB STUDIES IN CANADA The Friedrichsthal village seal (bottom left) has survived primarily in Teilungs Kontrakt ledgers (estate settlement agreements) like this one. In the presence of the estate heirs, the surviving spouse, the guardians, the trustees, and the representatives of the village administration or sometimes the Waisenamt Vorsteher (director/administrator), the stipulations of the estate settlement agreement were read, witnessed, signed, and stamped with the village seal. MMG stands for Mariupoler Mennoniten Gemeinde, the regional name for the five villages in the Bergthal Colony in Ukraine. Siegel des Dorfs Amte Friedrichsthal means “Seal of the village office of Friedrichsthal.” The above text is the certification paragraph at the end of an estate agreement dated 17 October 1870 and signed by Dorfs-Schulz (mayor) Daniel Blatz, Beisitzer (assistant) Peter Friesen, and Beisitzer Heinrich Dyck. The story of Friedrichsthal, the last Bergthal Colony village, starts on page 2. Photo credit: Ernest N. Braun. Contents Friedrichsthal: Last Village of the Historical Commission Publishes Film and Book Reviews: Bergthal Colony: Part 1 of 2 ............. 2 College History ................................ 7 Otto’s Passion ................................. 15 Unehelich: Mennonite Genealogy and The Search for the Mennonite Once Removed ................................ 16 Illegitimate Births: Part 1 of 3 .......... 3 Centennial Monument in MHA update ........................................... 6 Zaporozhzhia, Ukraine ................... 14 Friedrichsthal: Last Village of refugees have left their home countries, Mariupol[er] Mennonite Colony, but, in usually under duress, but the Bergthal Mennonite circles and later in hindsight, the Bergthal Colony: Part 1 of 2 Colony is still a singularly important it was referred to as the Bergthal Colony by Ernest N. Braun1 example of a voluntary emigration of a after its principal village, and its 1870s n 1973, on the centenary of the arrival complete people group in modern history. emigrants were known as Bergthalers. Iof the Mennonite delegates from the After years of research and futile Only later in Manitoba would the name Bergthal Colony in the newly created inquiries, in a final effort to locate the Bergthaler begin to mean something else, province of Manitoba, the late William village of his ancestors, William Schroeder notably on the West Reserve and then Schroeder published a book called The contacted the Library of Congress in in Saskatchewan where it referred to a Bergthal Colony.2 It is a measure of how Washington, DC. Fortunately, the Library particular Mennonite denomination. dim the memory of that settlement in did have maps of that Colony, which gave In 1848, a series of historical reports Ukraine was in 1973 to know that its very the names of the five villages in Russian. was compiled by the village Schulzen of geographic location had been lost. This Schroeder dates the maps to 1867, just all the Mennonite and German villages Colony is one of very few instances where nine years before the last Mennonites left of southern Russia. Many years later, the an entire Mennonite colony (five villages) the area. These maps had been seized by Odessaer Zeitung published the reports, emptied of all Mennonite presence within German agents after German forces had including the ones for the Bergthal a few years in the 1870s and, unlike occupied parts of the Soviet Union and Colony, and, in 1941, Margarete Woltner Chortitza or the Molotschna where were taken back to Germany. Then after republished them in a book, Die Gemeinde Mennonites lived at least until WWII, very the end of WWII, the American forces in Berichte von 1848 der Deutsche Siedlungen little was published about it in Mennonite turn captured a wide range of documents am Schwarzen Meer.7 While the reports circles until 100 years later. in Germany. Many of these, including cover the origins and circumstances of That same year, 1973, the last remaining the Bergthal maps, were taken back to these first four villages, they do not address Mennonite born in the Bergthal Colony, the United States and microfilmed for an obvious question: what happened to the Heinrich D. Penner (my second cousin deposition in libraries and archives, among remaining 1,952.5 desiatin (5,271 acres) several times removed), died at age 101. them the Library of Congress. Four of the still vacant?8 Hence, the subject of this The entire Bergthal Colony emigrated from maps were at some point stitched together article. Ukraine (then known as southern Russia) to form a composite picture of the Bergthal In fact, in 1852, a fifth village was en mass in the years 1874–1876 and settled Colony in 1867. These are the maps on finally established and oddly enough in America, principally Manitoba, but also which most Bergthal Colony maps are named Friedrichsthal. An explanation in parts of the USA. Of the more than 500 based. for the 13-year hiatus in settlement has not been provided to my knowledge, but Bergthal families that sold their properties, Geography and location it may be attributable to several factors. only 21 did not emigrate, each for different As Schroeder points out in his book, the 3 First, in 1847, the government body reasons. Since then, many large groups of land for this new colony in the Mariupol overseeing the foreign settlers in southern area west of the Sea of Azov had originally Mennonite Historian is published by the Russia, the Fürsorgekomitee (hereinafter Mennonite Heritage Archives (Mennonite been reserved in 1817 by the Russian Guardianship Committee9), opened Church Canada, Centre for Transnational government for a Jewish agricultural Mennonite Studies, and Canadian Mennonite settlement opportunities in the neighbouring colony, but not all the land was taken up. Jewish colonies for enterprising Chortitzer University) and the Centre for Mennonite Consequently, in 1833, the remaining land Brethren Studies (Canadian Conference of Mennonites to serve as “model” farmers was offered to the Chortitza Colony for its 10 Mennonite Brethren Churches). for the Jewish settlers. For a time, this landless population. The tract was about attracted a smattering of the landless, but Editors: Jon Isaak (CMBS) 25,800 acres (about 9,540 desiatin, various the initiative did not really ameliorate Conrad Stoesz (MHA) spellings) or about 40 sections, somewhat the landless problem. Second, several of All correspondence and manuscripts should be larger than a township in western Canada, the intervening years in the 1840s were 4 sent to the editorial offices at: which is about 23,040 acres (36 sections). difficult, with all the Mennonite colonies 1310 Taylor Ave. The assignment of land for a new colony experiencing drought, storms, livestock Winnipeg, MB R3M 3Z6 was a welcome and timely opportunity for disease, crop failures, and even a gopher 204.669.6575 the large, landless population of Chortitza, plague. An element not as directly [email protected] but a severe drought, cattle pests, and affecting Mennonites but preoccupying or disease that year (1833 was called the “black the authorities in 1848 was the threat of 500 Shaftesbury Blvd. 5 Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2 year” ) postponed any new settlement revolution spilling over into Russia from 204.560.1998 until 1836, when the first village, Bergthal Europe where there was considerable [email protected] (2,080 des.), was founded. Three more unrest. Third, by this time, Johann Cornies’s www.mennonitehistorian.ca villages followed, one per year: Schönfeld restrictive policies, already in place in the in 1837 (1,625 des.), Schönthal in 1838 Molotschna regarding who qualified as a Subscription rates: $17.00 per year, $32.00 for two years, and $46.00 for three years. (2,015 des.), and Heuboden in 1839 (1,820 suitable candidate to take up a farm, began Individual subscriptions may be ordered from des.) taking up about 7,540 desiatin and to extend to the Chortitza and Bergthal these addresses. leaving over 1,950 desiatin undeveloped.6 Colonies. For example, with respect to ISSN: 07008066 The district was formally known as the (cont’d on p. 4) Page 2 June 2021 Mennonite Historian Unfortunately, these are not always cut- and-dry situations. Genealogy and Family History The third reason for a non-match in Y-DNA testing is that the male ancestor gives birth more than nine months after the Unehelich: Mennonite was simply illegitimate. There are two death of her husband. ways that one can investigate this situation. Genealogy and Illegitimate Illegitimate births have come to the 1) There may be documentation to back this Births: Part 1 of 3 forefront of genealogical research due to up. 2) Y-DNA testing of several supposedly by Glenn H. Penner <[email protected]> the popularity of DNA testing. Autosomal related men might confirm this. DNA testing, which is provided by several llegitimate (Unehelich) births usually Several years ago, a Penner man did companies,1 has shown genetic siblings, involve a host of social issues that are a Y-DNA test. His results did not match I half siblings, cousins, etc., that do not fit in complex and can be a challenge for the the other Penner men. His earliest known the family tree. This test does not provide genealogist. If the event happened within Penner ancestor was an Abraham Penner, any kind of definitive information beyond living memory, or involved a fairly close who died in 1907 at the age of 83 years. A 1st cousins. Extrapolating these DNA relative, such as the parent or grandparent considerable amount of research eventually results to show that a great-grandparent, of a living person, the situation could be led to an Abraham Penner, born on May or more distant relative, was illegitimate is delicate. Also, over the last few generations, 22, 1824, illegitimate son of the unmarried very difficult and is also not covered here illegitimate births frequently also involved Anna Penner of Klein Mausdorferweide, for these reasons.