The Alsace

 The following websites give information on the history of the Alsace.

 http://feefhs.org/frl/fr/sc-alhis.html

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0856568.html

http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ELS-LOT/als-hist.html

The Alsace gains a place in Mennonite history because many Swiss Mennonites fled to the Alsace after persecutions became particularly intense in the latter part of the 1600's in Switzerland. St. Marie-aux-Mines (Markirch, Haut Rhin in German) was the first area to which the Mennonites fled. As a result of a written petition the Anabaptists were given certain privileges: exemption from military service, exemption from taking oaths, and the ability to worship in private homes in return for bringing their considerable agricultural skills to the task of helping to restore the productivity of the land after the Thiry Years War. (Claude Jerome, "Mennonites in the Alsace". Encyclopedie De L'Alsace, 1984, vol 8, reprinted in Mennonite Family History, July 1993,p. 135-136.)

Other towns and villages which were along either the Alsace/Montbéliard or the Alsace/Basel border were Héricourt, Grandvillars, Normanvillars, Florimont Bendorf and Levencourt (Mundigo or Montingo). Mortzwiller is a village farther to the north in Alsace. Sainte-Suzanne is a village a few miles southwest of Montbéliard. Clémont is south of Montbéliard beyond the borders of Montbéliard on land held by the Prince of Montbéliard, close to the border of the Basel Bishopric.

Amish Schism

 http://www.mhsc.ca/index.asp?content=http://www.mhsc.ca/encyclopedia/contents/A4594ME.html

In 1693 Jacob Amman developed and propagated the conservative ideas and religious practices which became known as the Amish division or schism. His more controversial practices included extreme simplicity of dress including hooks and eyes instead of buttons, maintenance of the Swiss Bernese dialect, footwashing, and a practice known as Neidung or the shunning of those within the Mennonite congregations who violated fundamental precepts. Nearly all of the Alsatian Mennonites followed the precepts of Amman.

In 1712, Louis XIV issued a decree [in response to protests against the special privileges of these "heretics" in the Alsace territories that had been claimed by France after the Thrity Year's War] that expelled them from the French governed Alsace. Many or most of the expelled Mennonites then fled to the Bishopric of Basel or to the independent Comté of Montbéliard near Alsace where an unpopular ruler welcomed a group who were ignorant of his past misdeeds.

Montbéliard

Map of contemporary Montbéliard -- zoom out

Map of contemporary Montbéliard -- zoom in

http://www.interfrance.com/en/fc/do_montbeliard.html

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~patwatson/MontPhotos.htm

 In the 12th century, Montbeliard had been a province within the Holy Roman Empire with a mixed French and German heritage. The German House of Wurttemberg incorporated it as an integral part of its Duchy in 1397 and had ruled it, with some significant interruptions, from that time. During the persecutions of the Protestants in France in the latter part of the 17th century, the area had become overrun by French Protestant refugees, many of whom settled in Lutheran Montbeliard. The Swiss Anabaptists were part of those refugees. In the middle of the 18th century religious strife came to the area in the form of the Catholic Church taking over the Protestant Churches. This was caused by a new ruler that was Catholic. In at least one instance the take over was hindered, but not stopped, by church members.

As a result of the many wars over the ensuing years, by 1750 Montbeliard had become geographically separated from the rest of the Duchy of Wurttemberg by an expanding France. Although the German House of Wurttemberg still ruled over Montbeliard, it had to concede that its rule, outside of the main town, was only as an agent of the King of France. Although the Wurttemberg rulers did not enforce the King of France's edicts for the restoration of Catholicism in Montbeliard, eventually orders were given that all children should be baptized in theCatholic faith and finally, all the Protestant churches ordered to be handed over to the Catholics or to be destroyed. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jmanning/langille.htm

 Swiss Volhynian names that are associated with the Alsace and Montbéliard are Grabers, Roths, Kaufmans, Goering, and Stuckis.

Gratz, Bernese Anabaptists and Their American Descendents, p. 89 has this to say about Montbéliard:

Montbéliard was a principality lying south and west of Alsace but belonging to the Duke of Württemberg from 1397 to 1796. Wilhelm Farel had worked here as a Reformer, and his followers had organized the Lutheran Church there. The first Anabaptists to arrive in the Principality came from Bern in the first years of the eighteenth century during persecution times. But the large numbers of Anabaptists did not appear in Montbéliard until 1712 when this became one of the chief places of refuge for those who had lived in Alsace. These came primarily from the Markirch Valley. They organized a strong church which was, as were also the Alsatian churches, of the Amish group. They moved only onto farms that belonged to Duke Leopold-Eberhard, who had procured much land because of an expropriation law. The Anabaptists were very welcome to him as they were very industrious farmers. Although the native population did not appreciate their coming the Duke gave them full protection. They were permitted to have their own cemetery, to organize their own school, and were not required to swear the oath. They, were not, however, permitted to build their own church building. They felt so secure that they even started a church record in 1750. This was the first church record to be started in any of the Swiss Anaabaptist churches in Europe.

Normanvillars -- By 1740 the Anabaptists were again tolerated in French territory. Some families moved outside of the Württemberg island of Montbéliard to the near-by Sundgau...The Anabaptists first spread to the French-speaking portion of the Sundgau called the district of Belfort which lay along the northeasetern border of Montbéliard. In the southern part of this district the Lords of Florimont owned and ruled a rather large tract of land. They favored the Anabaptists and permitted them to settle in the northern part of their domain in the pond-forest region called the forest of Normanvillars. Here they imporved the then existing farms and carved new ones out of the primeval forest.

Poland/Austria

Map of Urszulin-Michelsdorf -- zoom out

Map of Urszulin-Michelsdorf -- zoom out

Shortly after the Mennonites moved to Urszulin -Michelsdorf, Poland, that area of Poland was taken over by Austria in the third partition of Poland. Therefore, during much of the time of the Mennonites lived in this area, the area was under the rule of Austria. It later became part of the area of the Ukraine and is now found on maps of the contemporary Ukraine.

 "The 1937 Jacob Kaufman Family History recorded a tradiitonal story about the move to Poland. According to this story, a girl named Stucki was employed in the houehold of the nobleman in Montbéliard on whose land the Kaufmans lived.

 The nobleman's brother-in-law- named Tschatorinzky was visiting from Poland and noticed the girl's simple dress, quiet way, and dutiful manner. He inquired about her and her people. When he saw them at work, he decided that they were the kind of people he wanted on his estates in Poland. His invitation resulted in the immigration to Poland. (Jerold Stahly, "The Montbéliard Polish Move to Poland In 1791. Mennonite Family History, January 1989, p. 13).

 According to an entry in the Montbéliard Amish-Mennonite Church register, a group left for Poland on February 8, 1791, which is also the date of a passport [issued to a group of Mennonites from Montbéliard.] (Stahly, p. 15)

 Schrag (p. 42) quotes the passport in full:

 The government of the Duchy of Wuerttemberg at Moempelgard asks all and everybody concerned to let the following German-Swiss people&emdash;Moses Gering, Johan Graber, Johann Lichti, Peter Kaufman with Elisabeth Graber, his wife and Anna Rothe&emdash;who are on their way to Poland&emdash;to pass unhindered, and asks all who are responsible to render to these people all assistance wheich they might need on their trip,, considering the voluntary offer of reciprocity in equal cases. As a legal document hereof the present passport is issued with the seal of the chancellory and signed by the secretary of the government. So done in a goventmnet sesson, February 2, 1791.

 By order

Signed: Wolff

 The Swiss people and Anabaptists whose names appear in the above-mentioned passprt have in parte entered, or entering now the serice of the Prince Adam Czartorinsky, Great General of Podolia, and therefore are, on his request, and in his name, befittingly recommended to the good will, advice and deed of all concerned by the undersigned, considering the assistance that his Serene Highness, the Prince, will do the same under equal circumstances. Castle Meompelgard, February 8, 1791.

 J.B. v Maclar

The colnel of the Duchy of Wuerttemberg and the Lord High Stewared of His Highness the Young Prince

 Schrag goes on to say (p. 43): On the basis of the passport, the Swiss-Volhynian Mennonite group included Moses Gering, Johann Graber, Johann Lichti, Peter Kaufman and his wife Elizabeth (Graber), and Anna Roth. Evidence has been suggested to the effect that Moses Gering was married and had a family. Although there is no explicit proof, the logic of the situarion is that his wife, if living, and any unmarried children went with hm. Others may also have been married. Mention of Peter Kaufman's wife on the passport appears to have been on the basis that the application for passport was made before the wedding.

 Stahly (p. 16) states that the Montbéliard church book records the ordinations of Christian Graber and Jacob Roth as ministers to leave or Poland in 1791. Records of Christian Graber and his family are found in the Ukraine and account for all of the Swiss-Volhnian Graber descendents. Anna Roth may be the widow of Jacob Roth who left no descendents.

 The document is also important in verifying that the people listed within the document were Swiss and were Anabaptist. It is clear and definitive link between the Swiss origins of these people, their Anabaptist faith, and their settlement in Eastern Europe.

 Though the church book at Montbéliard lists the destination of the passport group as Adampol in Podolia it is not known whether the actually went there, or if they did whether they stayed any length of time. They may also have stayed at Einseidel for a brief while. They ultimately arrived at two villages in the Wlodawa District of Poland, Urzulin and Michelsdorf on land owned by Prince Czartorinsky.

 Schrag (p. 47):

Urzulin and Michelsdorf, situated a mile apart, are located fifteen miles norhteast of the city of Leczna; and Leczna is approximately a similar distance northeast of Lublin, Poland. The village of Urszulin in referred to in several writings which record the Swiss-Volhynian tradition, but its location was not known. The information given by Bachman that Mündlein was a minister in the district of Lomazy, some twenty-five mile southwest of Brest, and mention of seven Mennonite families near Glodawa (Wlodawa) by Rohrer, combined with a study of detailed maps, pinpointed Urszulin…The Michelsdorf in which the group settled is located a mile northeast of Urszulin.

Joseph Mündlein was an Amish elder from the Palatinate and Galicia who apparently did not go with the other Amish to the Hutterite Bruderhof, but went instead to Urszulin-Michelsdorf where he was an Elder. One of the indications of Amish belief was acknowledgement of the Ordnung (church order or discipline) of 1779 which had been signed at Essingen in the Palatinate. The Amish at Urszulin-Michelsdorf were referred to as the "Littauer Gemein" or Lithuanian congregation. Johannes Flickinger who also signed the church order for the "Liiauer Gemein" was another early immigrant to Urszulin-Michelsdorf as was Andreas Schrag, whose wife, was the widow of Christian Albrecht. This Andreas Schrag was the same person who left Galicia for the year at the Hutterite Bruderhof and apparently returned to Galicia rather than moving to Michalin with the other disaffected Amish. Paul Voran was brought into the household of Joseph Mündlein as an orphaned servant boy. Other names at Urszulin-Michelsdorf not previously mentioned were Wolbert, Senner, Schwartz, Sutter and Mauer [Joseph Mündlein's wife Elizabeth was proably a Mauer]. (Stahly, p. 15 & 16 and Schrag, p. 47)

According to Schrag (p. 48):

The two villages were located on marshy land, better adapted to grazing than to grain production. The Mennonites specialized therefore in dairying and cattle raising, selling their products of milk and butter in the surrounding larger towns. Although they were able to maintain themselves financally, the opportunities for economic advancement were not good; and accordingly there was some dissatisfaction with the location….They spoke Swiss liberally sprinkled with French words.

Dissatisfied with farming conditions, and learning of better opportunities in Volhnia, the larger portion of the Urszulin-Michelsdorf community moved to Edwardsdorf in Volhnia in 1807. The remaining smaller portion left Michelsdorf in 1837 and settled in Horodischtz, Volhynia.

Back To: Switzerland -- Palatinate (Migration Route I)

To: Volhynia (Migration Route II)