Preservings 11 (1997) - Plett Foundation

Preservings
Heinrich Abrams (1832-1910) and family
Heinrich Abrams (1832-1910) and Maria Heinrichs (1836-1909) and Family: from Grossweide to Grossweide; by great-greatgranddaughter
Cathy Friesen Barkman, Box 3284, Steinbach, Manitoba, R0A 2A0.
Introduction.
It is unlikely that there is anyone living today
who can remember Heinrich Abrams personally.
As well, it appears that stories and anecdotes which
might have been passed down through generations
are scarce. Nonetheless, many of us are living proof
of the life of Heinrich Abrams and Maria Heinrichs.
Records, census’ and newspaper articles shed some
light on them and their family and from these
sources I have put together a part of their story.
The Beginning.
Heinrich Abrams (or Abrahams) was born on
March 27, 1832 in Grossweide, a village in the
Molotschna Colony in southern Russia. His father
was Jacob Abrams, born on March 16, 1799 in the
village of Benhof, Prussia. His mother, Katherina
Martens, was born on May 17, 1795 in the village
of Ohrlofferfelde, Prussia.
Karl Stumpp, in his book The Emigration from
Germany to Russia in the Years 1763 to 1862, includes
a short section on the emigration of the
Mennonites from Prussia to Russia. He lists a Jakob
Abrahams from Gr. Schardau/Stuhm who emigrated
to Taurien (Molotschna) in 1818. If this is
the same Jakob Abrams, born 1799, he would have
been 19 and most likely single at the time of emigration.
Jakob and Katherina Abrams appear in the
1835 Census for the Molotschna area in Russia in
the village of Grossweide, Wirtschaft 25. The
“Jakob Georg Abrahams” family is listed as “accepted
in the home” of Peter Dirk Adrian. As of
1835 their children were: Jakob born 1821, Peter -
1823, Heinrich -1832, Katherina -1825, Helena -
1827 and Margaretha -1831. It appears that
Heinrich and Peter were the only children to come
to Canada. The others probably died in Russia.
Heinrich’s mother, Katherina Martens Abrams,
died at the age of 71 in the village of Grossweide
in Russia on May 6, 1866. Her husband, Jakob,
lived on and continued to experience many adventures
for his advanced age. He was one of our
Mennonite forefathers who participated in the
emigrations from Prussia to Russia and Russia to
North America.
Marriage, 1856.
On November 1, 1856, at the age of 24, Heinrich
married Maria Heinrichs, born March 5, 1836 in
Marienthal, Russia. I do not know for sure who
her parents were. In the 1835 Molotschna Census,
there are two families living in Marienthal which
may have been Maria’s parents - Johann Johann
Heinrichs and his wife Aganetha, Wirtschaft 12 or
Johann Johann Heinrichs and his third and very
young wife Maria, Wirtschaft 15. It could possibly
be the second family considering Maria may have
named her first daughter after her own name. Maria,
being born in 1836, would not have shown up on
the 1835 Molotschna Census.
Heinrich and Maria (Heinrichs) Abrams first
years of married life were likely filled with joy
along with sadness. Their first child, Heinrich -
born March 3, 1858, died the day he was born.
The second son, also Heinrich, born March 2, 1859,
died seventeen days later, leaving behind a once
again grieving mother and father. Maria, born April
15, 1860, was the third child. Son Jacob was born
December 31, 1861. Again, sorrow filled the
1904. Heinrich and Maria Heinrichs Abrams with two
of their grandchildren. The girl, Susanna Abrams
Friesen (1885-1969), is the granddaughter of Johann
and Maria Friesen. She eventually married Abraham
P. Friesen (1884-1969). The boy sitting on Heinrich’s
lap was Heinrich D. Klassen (1900-67) who married
Mary Funk (1902-24). Photo courtesy of Mrs. Benj.
D. Loeppky.
Abrams home when Jacob passed away five months
later on May 5, 1862. Johann was born on October
30, 1864; Heinrich November 24, 1867; Jacob December
5, 1868; Peter February 6, 1871; Katharina
December 20, 1872; Elisabeth January 2, 1875;
Helena January 3, 1878; and Anna July 3, 1881.
Grossweide to Puchtin.
These must have been busy years for Heinrich
and Maria. Between celebrating the births of some
children and mourning the deaths of others, they
managed to pack up and move a number of times.
A letter, by Korn. Heinrichs, dated December
11, 1908, published in the Rundschau, January 27,
1909, page 17, stated the following: “Ich mochte
gerne erfahren wo mein Onkel Heinrich Abrams
sich besidet, fruher in Grossweide, Russland; von
Grossweide nach Wernersdorf, von Wernersdorf
nach Klippenfeld, von Klippenfeld nach Puchtin
und von dort nach Canada, Nordamerika gezogen.”
At the end of his letter, Kornelius Heinrichs,
Heinrich’s nephew, mentions that the sister of his
uncles, Katharina, was his stepmother. This appears
to be Katharina (born 1825) who was the
daughter of Jakob and Katharina (Martens)
Abrams. Kornelius signs his letter from Chartsch,
76
Chasaw Turt, Terek, Russia. Chartsch was a village
located in the Terek Colony, established in
1901 by the Molotschna Colony. It was located
some 30 Kilometres from the Caspian Sea and
approximately 1000 Kilometres east of the mother
Molotschna Colony.
According to his nephew, the Heinrich Abrams
family lived in as many as four villages in Russia.
Grossweide, settled in 1820, was a Mennonite village
in the Halbstadt district of the Molotschna. At
one time it spread over 5,551 acres. Wernersdorf
consisting of 5,640 acres was settled in 1824.
Klippenfeld was founded in 1863 on the Tokmak,
a small branch of the Molochnaya River.
Grossweide was the furthest south with Klippenfeld
being approximately 12 miles northwest of
Grossweide. Wernersdorf was approximately 8
miles west of Klippenfeld.
Thanks to research done by John Dyck, we
know that Puchtin was located north of the
Molotschna Colony, closer to Schönfeld. Most of
the settlers in Puchtin came from the Molotschna
Colony. It was a convenient stop-over for Mennonites
travelling from Chortitza to Bergthal. Marriages
from the Puchtin area sometimes joined
Molotschna and Bergthal families.
A further reference in the Rundschau confirms
that the Abrams family came from Puchtin. A letter
in the April 29th, 1903 issue written by Johann
Klassen of Eigenhoff, Gretna, mentioned the marriage
of David Klassen and Anna Abrams, a daughter
of Heinrich Abrams, formerly of Puchtin. It is
also interesting that the 1878 Chortitzer Church
Register noting Heinrich’s nephew, Peter Abrams
(b 1850), has the, word “Puchtin” scribbled on the
top of the page. There are other families in the
church register with this same notation. The
Rundschau article, church registers and research
done by John Dyck, all confirm that Heinrich
Abrams, his father, Jakob, and brother, Peter, and
their families emigrated from Puchtin to North
America.
To Canada, 1875.
Heinrich and Maria Abrams made the decision
to move their family to Canada. Heinrich and his
brother Peter, their families and their father, Jakob,
sailed July 10, 1875 on the Pacha which travelled
from Hamburg to Hull. They sailed on the S. S.
Manitoba, No. 36 from Liverpool which arrived at
Quebec on July 27, 1875. Heinrich’s widowed father,
Jakob Abrams (1799-1884) travelled with
them. Heinrich’s brother Peter (1823-1911) and
his family sailed along with 348 other Mennonites
who represented the Bergthal, Chortitza and
Molotschna Colonies. Johann Abrahams (1828-
94), Daniel Blatz (born 1817) and Peter Abrahams
(1823-1911) provided leadership for this group of
Mennonite people. It would be interesting to know
if Johann was related to Peter and Heinrich, perhaps
cousins? Johann’s father was Johann
Abrahams (1794-1856) who may or may not have
been a brother to Jakob Abrams (1799-1884).