Transfers from the Molotschna to Chortitza Colonies in 1835

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Source: State Archive of the Odessa Region, Odessa, Ukraine
Fond 6, Inventory 1, File 4127

Much of the records of the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia are preserved in the Odessa Region State Archives. The microfilming of most of the records of interest to Mennonite historians and genealogists will be complete by 2005. These microfilms can be found at the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies, Fresno, California; the Center for Mennonite Studies, Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas; the Mennonite Historical Society of British Columbia, Abbotsford, British Columbia; and the Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Fond 6, Inventory 1, file 4127 contains 44 documents, each of which records the transfer of a family from the Molotschna Colony to the Chortitza colony on December 9th of 1835. I suspect that the unprecedented move of such a large number of people was likely due to the anticipated founding of a daughter colony by the Chortitza colony. This was the Bergthal colony, which was established in 1836. The information given in these documents is tabulated below. I have been able to identify all of the household heads in the Grandma database. I have also been able to identify 5 of these in the Bergthal Colony church records.

Created 1 January 2004; HTML by Richard D. Thiessen

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