Cliff Wall's Remembering Our Heritage - Contents
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OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Mother's family may be traced back to the 9th century during the reign of Charlemagne. The late Dr. Benjamin Heinrich Unruh (1881-1959), the Mennonite historian from Karlesbruke, Germany claimed to have records documenting this.
Dr. Benjamin Heinrich Unruh's father was a 1st cousin of grandfather, Peter T. Unruh on mother's side. Benjamin's mother, Elizabeth Wall was grandfather's sister on father's side of the family.
Mennonites belong to a Protestant group that emphasizes a simple style of life and worship. They base their beliefs on the Bible especially the New Testament. They believe the Bible forbids them from going to war or holding offices that require the use of force.
The first Mennonites belonged to a church organized in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1525. They believed that church and state should be separate. They also believed that baptism and church membership should be given only to people who are mature enough to make a thorough commitment to the church and demonstrate sincerity in their way of life.
They lived together in villages inside larger areas called colonies, with several elected leaders for each colony. The Mennonites were dedicated farmers and they built up beautiful farms and thriving villages wherever they went. They always kept to themselves and never intermarried with other nationalities. The dress code was simple and basically they only required religious freedom and military exemption.
Many West Prussian Mennonites of Dutch decent moved to Russia in the late 1700's. In the 1870's many of them moved to Canada and to the Great Plains of United States as our ancestors did.
Around 1530 and on, a continual stream or Mennonite emigrants flowed eastward from the land of the dikes to North Germany, Poland, Prussia and England. The settlers in these areas remained in close cultural and spiritual contact with their brethren in Holland well into the next century.
On August 22, 1553, King Sigmund of Poland granted the Mennonites permission to settle at Culm (Kulm) in former West Prussia in the Marienwerder district, on the right bank of the Vistula River. It appears that the Unruh family came from Culm (Kulm) lowlands and settled in the marshy Netzbruch area. Next they moved to Brenkenhoffswalde the province of Brandenburg, where Great-Great-Grandfather Benjamin M. Unruh (1783-1835) was born.
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In 1762 Catherine II, Czarina of Russia, sent out a proclamation inviting all the people from Prussia and Switzerland desiring farmland to come and settle in Southern Russia. The Mennonites were again granted religious freedom and military exemption. In the following 50 years, many Mennonite Villages migrated to the Land of the Steppes.
The book The Emigration From Germany to Russia in the years 1763-1862 by Karl Stump has in it the Manifesto of The Empress Catherine 11. It listed all the privileges and requirements the settlers would have. If any one settled in uninhabited regions they would be free of taxes for 30 years. If they settled in cities they would be free of taxes for 5 years. There would be loans for building, obtaining restock etc.
Only after their tax-exemption period expired would they be required to provide labor service for the country. They were to have free and unrestricted practice of their religion and could build churches and bell-towers but not monasteries.
This proclamation was distributed in all European countries; only in Germany did it have a decisive success. (Germany was in and awful mess at this time. It had been over run by so many armies with property etc. being destroyed.) Emigration agents from France, Switzerland and Belgium were contacted and paid premiums for each family they recruited. Most of the colonists came from Germany, though there were a few from Denmark, and Sweden.
It was not until the 1780's after the Russian-Turkish war (which had brought the immigration to a standstill) that Russia revived the project of colonization. It was in 1789 that conditions for settlement were negotiated with the Mennonites. This resulted in the formation of the Chortitza Colony by about 228 families. By 1824 there were about 400 families in some 18 villages. Interest in migration was revived in 1803 with the formation of the Molotschna Colony. By 1840 there were 46 villages in this Colony.
All went well for many years. The Mennonites built up their farms, and villages and again grew prosperous. There were no marriage contracts entered into with the Russians. In 1863 the Polish Russians were revolting and Prussian militarism was rising. Then Russia decided that the day for Russianizing all the residents of Russia had come.
The colonists did not own the land they lived on. They only owned the right to use it and it was this use they could sell to fellow colonists. They were given 10 years to either adjust to the new rules or leave the country.
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In 1870, 130 years after the reign of the benevolent Catherine, doom once again descended on the Mennonite communities. Czar Alexander 11 put an end to all their special privileges, and set out to demand military service and Russianization of all foreigners. His emissaries began a systematic search from village to village.
The Mennonites would be forced to give up their land their language (low-German) and control of their schools. They would no longer be allowed to practice their religious beliefs and all their young men would be conscripted into the Russian Army. This could not be tolerated. The search was on immediately for a new place where they could once more be free to worship God in their own way and walk on their own ground. Thus began the great migration of the 1870's to America.
Several countries were considered in the Mennonite search for a new homeland. Canada and America were considered the best choices. Canada was anxious to have the Mennonites farmers move to the unsettled prairies of Western Canada.
A special Commissioner, William Hespeler, from the Canadian Government was sent to Russia to grant all of the demands made by the Mennonites if they would come to the Canadian West. William Hespeler was not welcome by the Russia Government and was asked to leave the country immediately.
The Mennonites were undecided on where to go so they sent a group of twelve delegates, representing their settlements to North America to check out the conditions. These delegates, left on April 16, 1873 for North America and arrived in New York City from Hamburg aboard the Frisia on May 28, 1873. Tobias Unruh (1819-1875) one of the 12 delegates. He arrived in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 28, 1875 and settled that Spring in Turner County, S.D.
The following is a list of the twelve men and the settlements they represented.
1. Jacob Buller - Alexanderwohl congregation
2. Leonard Sudermann - Molotschna colony
3. Tobias A. Unruh - Volhynia settlement
4. Andreas Schrag - Swiss colony of Volhynia.
5. Heinrich Wiebe - Chortitza and Kleine Gemeinde
6. Jacob Peters - Chortitza and Kleine Gemeinde
7. Cornelius Buhr - Bergthal colony
8. William Evert - West Prussia
9. Cornelius Toews - Kleine Gemeinde
10. David Claassen - Kleine Gemeinde
11. Paul Tschetter - Hutterite Settlement
12. Lorenz Tschetter - Hutterite settlement
Tobias A. Unruh (1819-1875) one of the twelve delegates. He arrived in Philadelphia, PA Jan 28, 1875 and settled during spring in Turner County, SD.