Friday, June 6, 2025

Volhynian Mennonites who emigrated from Europe at a different time than the mass migrations of 1874/75

This is a list that I've been compiling for years which includes Volhynian Mennonites who emigrated from Europe at a different time than the mass migrations of 1874/75 (Colina, London, Montreal, Vaderland, Nederland, Kenilworth, Illinois, Suevia).  

Entrants on this list come from:

Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922

Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists Index, 1820-1897

Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists Index, 1897-1952

New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891

New York, New York, Index to Passenger Lists, 1820-1846

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists Index, 1800-1906

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1882

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1883-1945

Galveston Immigration Database

http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/holdings/organizations/CMBoC_Forms/

GRanDMA


It's impossible to say how many Mennonites were in Volyn but in 1874, a rough census put the total at 2,460 with 506 intending to stay (1874; St. Petersburg, Archives; Fond1246, Opis1, Delo 8, Page137).  1,954 intended to emigrate.  The Colina, London, Montreal, Vaderland, Nederland, Kenilworth, Illinois, and Suevia together carried 1,774 people but maybe 50-75 of these were, for instance, from Deutsch Michalin or Swiss so they don't count toward the 1,954 total.

Abe J Unruh claims that the Mennonites who remained in the Ostrog area after 1875/5 consolidated to Lilewa.  The list below seems to bear that claim out since the majority come from Lilewa.

Finally, there will probably never be any way to know about those who were deported to the east instead of emigrating to the west.  For instance, Katherina Nachtigal is the very last person listed here.  Her brother Benjamin Nachtigal was deported to Kazakhstan with his family in 1936.  Others, like Johann Andreas Nachtigal, chose to stay in Imperial Russia beyond the Bolshevik Revolution.  Johann made his home in Lilewa but about 1906 moved to the Molotschna Colony, Village Pordenau.  We last find him with his family on EWZ lists in the Warthegau in 1944.  It's impossible to tell what happened to him after that.



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