The following are the primary centers of settlement in Volhynia. In each instance there were smaller villages in the area to which some of the descendents of the early settler ultimately moved.
The first settlement in Russia had been made by settlers who moved from Galicia to the Hutterite Bruderhof to Michalin. These eventually moved to Wignanska north of Dubno in the Volhynia at the invitation of Prince Lubanirsky.. Subsequent migrations of Mennonites settled in Edwardsdorf in 1807 also at the invitation of Prince Luanirsky. Edwardsdorf is about 15 miles southwest of Dubno. This land, which was rented for twenty-four year periods, was wooded and had to be cleared in the first years, but with hard work the land was productive and moved the status of the group "above subsistence level."
The church at Edwardsdorf adhered to the Essingen Ordnung of 1779 which made their practice Amish. There was some movement between the settlements of Edwardsdorf and Wignanka. The Mennonites stayed in Edwardsdorf from 1807 to 1861 &endash; the longest they had stayed in any one area since leaving Montbéliard.
Family names at Edwardsdorf were Albrecht, Flickinger, Gering, Krehbiel, Miller, Schrag, Stucky, Sutter, Voran, Zerger. New names added were Waldner (Waltner), Wedel, Archlus, Strausz, Riesz, and Preheim. Graber and Kaufman were not present. They apparently stayed at Michelsdorf and moved to Horodischtz in 1837. (Schrag, p. 54)
Villages colonized from Edwardsdorf were Zahoriz, Hecker, Koryto, and Futtor.
Orpha Schrag in an article on Andreas Schrag for the July 1994 issue of Mennonite Family History, "Andreas D. Schrag: Volhynia to Russia" describes the appearance of a number of these villages (now a part of the Ukraine) on a trip she made to the area to identify the villages in 1993. Andreas Schrag was from Futtor:
"Futor was home for Schrag and his wife Barbara…[According to one historian] there was one well here and it was deep. Water was drawn with a wheel powered by foot. It is said that a Flickner operated the wheel and his lameness in later lfie resulted from this…We find Futor through the guidance of a local resident who shows us the way on a road carved by decades of traffic. It moves up a gentle hill from the base of Koryto to a fenced cemetery. An old oak shades the left hand area of unmarked graves. Our companion explains that the tree was already there when his ninety-year-old mother was born. They attribute it to German colonists…
While the road had yielded grudgingly to the tracks of a contemporary Mercedes, it closes itself at a necessary right turn and exacts us to walk. The deeply furrowed trail leads past gardens rich with beets, high with dill, and colorful with pumpkns. Two children and their mother straighten from stooped positions as we wind our way under a canopy of trees. A family cow stands tethered in knee-high grass. The summer hay is stacked for winter fodder…
[In a clearing the guide] walks to a spot in the stubble. He points to the location of a former well, now filled with soil since 1954. It had been a deep one, forty-six meters he explains, and had been operated by a wheel…
The nearby plum trees remain untouched by the large tracts of land. Their keeper, in a gesture of Ukrainian hospitality, quickly pulls the fruit by the handful for us to eat. A fleeting thought occurs that somehow they might have come from the seed of a Schrag tree." (Orpha Schrag, p. 101-102)
"Zahoriz is reached by way of tree-lined roads. We approach from Poucha, the old Edwardsdorf, where the Mennonites who moved to Kutusufka first lived. On winding roads we drive over hills and pass the ever present horses and wagons. Produce stands support sack full of freshly dug potatoes.
A sign announces that we have reached Zahoriz. Cattle graze on the meadows. Goats forage. In the valley a long train speeds to connect Dubno and L'vov. A thatched roof reflects an earlier period, but more recent construction is evident. The sloped land, equally difided behind each house, appears to be laid out in the similar manner of early Mennonite plots. An owner explains that there is a Big Zahoriz and a Little Zahoriz. She points to Little Zahoriz and we count ten new houses on the facing hill. Dina [their Russian interpreter] defines the name as "living behind the mountains." (Orpha Schrag, p. 103)
Map of contemporary Horodeyszcze -- out
Map of contemporary Horodeyszcze -- in
Those Mennonites that had stayed in Urszulin-Michelsdorf moved in 1837 to Horodeyszcze which is north and east of Rovno. Rovno is north of Dubno, still in the province of Volhynia. The land was wooded much like Edwardsdorf and required the same amount of hard work to clear, but, for the first time the Mennonites were able to own their land. This settlement lasted until the migration to America in 1874.
Family names at Horodischtz were Voran, Graber, Kaufmann, Flickinger, Preheim, Gering, Schrag, Albrecht, Stucky, Schwartz, Rysz, Senner, Strausz, and Krehbiel.
"Horodisch… the [Mennonite] church building stood in Horodisch. Its sizeable membership was under the care of Elder Peter Kaufman, my father's grandfather…A signpost on a contemporary highway indicates that we are approaching Horodisch….We pass through [the village of] Berezno as we approach it. On one side an antique mill wheel lies along the ditch like a modern sculpture. On the other side an unused old mill stands like a sentinel above the tassled corn. Other fields are a solid green.
A dirt road leads to Horodisch which spreads across a hilly and somewhat wooded terrain. As we draw nearer, the sight of ripe pears atop a huge tree prompts Vladimir, now driving, to stop. The farmer shakes the branches with a long pole and his wife quickly washes the fruit in the wooden tub by the outside well. The autumn air is cool On a clothesline the feather comforters already hang to be freshened.
The village is large enough to hav a fork in the road. Along the high side near one of the older houses, Kalina bushes push their red berries through unpainted pickets. They are the national shrub of the Ukraine. Close to them two women rest on a bench, kercheifs tied beneath their chins and arms folded across their bodies. A grandmother, Lida, watches over a child.
In their place could be Maria Prehiem, married to Peter Kaufman, and Anna Stucky, married to christian Kauffmann. The child could be Anna's daughter Carolina, my mother's mother. The grandmother could pass for Barbara Graber Stucky, Anna's mother. (Orpha Schrag, p. 105).
Map of contemporary contemporary Kutusovka -- out
Map of contemporary contemporary Kutusovka -- in
As the Mennonite settlers became fruitful and multiplied the available land became more scarce around the early settlement of Edwardsdorf. At the same time Czar Alexander the II began a program of the modernization of Russia which included the abolition of serfdom and making land available for private ownership. This was a two-edged sword for the Mennonites, for the available land allowed some of them to move and afforded the possibility of economic advancement while at the same time some of the privileges such as exemption from military service and the allowance for the people to worship in their services and the organization of their own schools were being withdrawn. The settlement in Kotosufka would last only thirteen years.
"The move from Edwardsdorf came in 1861 when Prince Kutsuf's land was freed and opened for settlement. A historical account notes that this action became controversial inasmuch as the recently freed servs fully expected to have the opportunity to own and farm this land themselves. Rather, it became the property of the [Mennonite] congregation and was distributed to its members." (Orpha Schrag, p. 104)
In addition to the family names at Edwardsdorf the names of Dirks, David, Ortman, and Friedrich were added at Kotosufka.
"Kutusufka is not busy the day we visit. A old woman in a bright red dress stands comfortably in the middle of the street. Near here are new structures like the Orthodox church being built on the ank of the Irsa River. A contemporary building with an artisitic mural is near the cener of town. Even a bust of Kutusuf stands elevated on a marble pedestal. Again he looks over the lnds which once were wrested from him and from which he was exiled…..[In the village of Neumanufka &endash; now Zubrinka] it has come to our attention that we are in an area of a few old German houses with the usual white-painted brick with blue trim. Where there are houses and a fenced yard there is also a draw well. The depth of the hole determines the length of the outside pole. Cows feed along the roadside. Geese are everywhere. In the surrounding areas state or collective farms grow a variety of grains including hops. In a nearby field harvesters separate and load flax for storage or market.. Mostly women and a few men share this manual labor. (Orpha Scharag.p. 104)
Back To: Galicia -- Hutterite Colony -- Michalin, Russia (Migration Route I)
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