FUERSTENAU
When I think of Fuerstenau the following thoughts come to mind.
- Fuerstenau was the birthplace of my mother Tina(Klassen) Fransen 1906-1970.
- Our mother lived in Fuerstenau up until 1925.
- Mother's ancestors settled in Fuerstenau in 1806 and lived on the same yard till 1925.
- Apparently the only two buildings remaining from Mennonite times are the school and the luxurious Neufeld home.
-The Klassens lived next to the school which was directly across the street from the Neufeld home.
- The cemetery was directly behind the Klassen property.
-The church that the Klassens attended was in Schoensee, three miles to the east. Today the structure is abandoned and in serious stages of decay although remnants of the ornate building remain.
- Alexander Ediger, a talented musician and theologian was the pastor in the Schoensee church until he was exiled in the early thirties.
-Our mother was baptized in this church and Hilda Fransen's parents, Johann Walls were married in this church. Beyond Schoensee is Klippenfeld the former home of the Walls and also of Canadian leader J.J. Thiessen. We visited here on our trip to Molotschna.
- We spent at least two hours in Fuerstenau visiting the former school which is an outpatient medical clinic, including birthing and a little library. Some of us picked up a brick from what appeared to be from the rubble of the Klassen home. Particularly Fred and David, and perhaps others did a thorough search of the area of the former cemetery but no remnants or markings of any family names were found. Some of us walked about a block down the street and were welcomed into the home of a Mr. Wallman who spoke a good german and said that he had been born in the village in 1926.
While standing in the village we reminded ourselves of the time in 1919 when Grandpa Klassen, according to his memoirs that he wrote in 1929 was approached by a couple of strangers(turned out to be from the Red Army) and ordered him to drive them to the next village. Thinking that he would be back in a few hours he embarked only to return not in a few hours but six days later only to find out that while he had been gone his brother Jakob had been "enlisted" by The White Army to drive for them and was not yet back home. Or we thought of the three "Flights" that Grandpa describes that the family was forced to undertake during those tumultuous times.
Questions remain - What might have happened to the wealthy estate owners Neufelds that lived in the village? Did they suffer the fate of so many others, particularly but not exclusively by any means, the wealthy who found their death in the far reaches of the Gulag? Or did they migrate eventually to NA? No one seems to know.
Did all Mennonites leave Fuerstenau for America in the twenties? Or did some remain as most did for example in Mariawohl. Did any leave Fuerstenau for NA in the 1874 migration?
Perhaps some of you can relate more about the Edigers - apparently Mrs. Ediger lived for many years in WK and if I am not mistaken a book/booklet has been written perhaps by Mrs. Ediger who is now deceased about the family tragedy. I understand that two children were abandoned in the thirties while both parents were in exile. If my information is correct they were street children who later grew up to be loyal communists and remained living in the Soviet Union.
There is of course a Goerz/Weir connection to Fuerstenau. My mother's sister Susan was married to Frank Goerz who comes from a family of church leaders. One apparently was an elder at one time of the large Rudnerweide church in the southern part of the Molotschna.
Rumour also has it that perhaps "Uncle Bill" Andres may have been born in Fuerstenau.
It might be of interest to state that Daniel Daniel Peters, (1794-1879) an ancestor to Mary and to Ingrid Peters Fransen first came and lived in Fuerstenau when his family migrated from Prussia and before he moved on to be the founder of Petersdorf in the Old Colony.
The visit to Petersdorf and then to Nicolaifeld/Nicolaipole and on to Gnadenthal and Gruenfeld is a story that I must leave for Fred to tell as it involves the Peter's side of the family.
I would hope that others would submit their thoughts and pictures about my notes on Fuerstenau. I did not take a camera with me but others did. David does have some pictures of Fuerstenau etc on his earlier blog.
herb
Herb asks whether anyone from Fuerstenau emigrated to North America in the 1870's.
ReplyDeleteHere’s what I have found:
A large Neufeld family left Fuerstenau in July 1878 and settled in the Mountain Lake, Minnesota area. The father Gerhard Neufeld was born in Fuerstenau in 1827, baptized in Schoensee in 1847, and died in Mountain Lake in 1916. In 1869 he was called to be a preacher in South Russia and in 1878 in Mt. Lake he was elected elder and installed by elder Gerhard Wiebe of Manitoba, becoming the first elder of the Mennonite Church at Mountain Lake.
Remember our Goossen relatives who arrived in Fuerstenau in 1806? My great great Grandfather was Franz Johann Goossen (1813 - 1868), born & died in Fuerstenau. His daughter Helena married into the Klassen line and they took over the Goossen yard, close to the school in Fuerstenau. In 1867, great great Grandfather built a windmill on the yard where his children, grandchildren from daughter Helena, & Klassen great-grandchildren (including my mother Tina Klassen Fransen), as well as great great grandchild Ernie Gortson were born. A plaque read "Franz Goossen, 1867. The house and yard are demolished but we think we found some of the rubble from the house.
Back to the Gerhard Neufeld family that emigrated to Minnesota USA in 1878.
Gerhard was the youngest of seven children, and the only one about whom there is significant information. Gerhard Neufeld’s 1st wife died in Fuersteanu in 1869, leaving 6 children. In 1875 he married Justina Loewen Bargen, a widow with four children.
In July 1878, Gerhard Neufeld & his 6 children ages 13 - 28 years (3 were married), and 7 grandchildren, and his wife Justina and her three youngest children ages 13 - 20 years left Fuerstenau and settled in Mountain Lake, MN. Justina was a doctor. Many of the Gerhard Neufeld descendants continue to live in Minnesota or Montana, as well as other States. One of his great grandsons was George Buhr (1918 - 2005) of the Bethel College Kansas athletic department, who Herb and Werner would know. He and his wife Mildred lived in Leisy House, when I also lived there as a student in 1962.
The Question must be asked:
Were these Neufelds related to the Wilhelm and Maria Neufeld house we saw in Fuerstenau? The Wilhelm Neufelds owned 18 of the farms in Fuerstenau, a brick factory and a large estate north of Fuerstenau. A picture of that house should be submitted to the blog with a description of it (perhaps from the Friesen book). Anyway, Gerhard Neufeld (1827 - 1916) who emigrated to Mountain Lake, MN had four older brothers, Herman Neufeld born 1812, Peter born 1818, Johann Neufeld born 1820 & died 1860, and Heinrich Neufeld born 1822. There is no information about their marital status or descendants, or what became of them. Could one of them have had a descendant Wilhelm (Maria) who became the wealthy landowners in Fuerstenau, and were then forced to abandon their home about 1921?
Here goes... first time blogging or blog commenting, not sure if I'm using the right terminology. I am thoroughly enjoying the pictures and comments and with Edith's encouragement I will comment on Herb's reference to the Goerz/Weier connection to Fuerstenau. Franz & Susa Goerz were my paternal grandparents and their Fuerstenau connection is only through Susie (nee Klassen) Goerz. The Franz Goerz ancestors were from Schoensee, Gnadenfeld and Rudnerweide. Franz Goerz (1820-1901) became minister in Rudnerweide in 1850 and Bishop from 1861-1891 of both Gnadenfeld and Rudnerweide congregations retiring in 1895? With 1870's introduction of universal military service, he was sent to plead the Mennonites cause in St. Petersburg. The Weier family (my mother Margaret Goerz's side) lived in Tiegerweide. Also checking Bill Andres' place of birth, it says "Fuerstenau" in my data records too. Hope this is of some relevance... keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteIn a new Blog soon, I plan to send a photo of the Schoensee Mennonite Church, and write about it. In addition to what Wilma (Goerz) Turner said about her great-great-great Grandfather Franz Goerz (1820-1901), one source also says that he lived at one time in Paulsheim and that he was the elder of the Schoensee Mennonite Church, but that this has not been substantiated.
ReplyDelete