Przechowo Vorwerk Land Contract, 1774

See: https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/VI_53/Bydgoszcz/Przechowko/PrzechowkoBlatt6BydgoszczArchivesFond1881FileXXXX/IMG_3846.JPG, Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas.

Przechowo – Act of granting the hereditary possesion of a half of the Przechowo Vorwerk (Przechowo manor lands) to 7 previous emphiteutic tenants; 1774, 20th May

Translated by Michał Targowski, Torun, Poland.

Just after the present emphiteutic tenants of the Przechowo Vorwerk belonging to the Schwetz Office, named  Andreas Ratzlaff, Abraham Riechert, Hans Ratzlaff, Tobias Ratzlaff, Heinrich Unruh, Jacob Pankratz und Jakob Knels, decided to cede immidiately to His Royal Maiesty a half of that Vorwerk, the contract of which will be over in 1787, inlcuding all dwelling and farm buildings as well as their winter sowing, for reimbursement of the Einkaufs Geldes in amount of 66 Reichsthaler 60 Groschen which once had been paid by them, under condition that in exchange they will be given the other half of that Vorwerck in hereditary and real possession and will be allowed to use this part for the needs of their village, His Royal Majesty graciously decided to accept their proposition from 22 February, hence the following act of Erbverschreibung (ceding the full and hereditary property of the possession) was arranged  and concluded:

1. The Westprussian Chamber for War and Domain, up till His Royal Maiesty’s ultimate confirmation, grants and gives one half of the Przechowo Vorwerk, which according to the measurement performed by conductor Matthias has within its borders 4 Huben, 2 Morgen and 297 Ruthen in Chełmno scale,  to the previous emphiteutic tenants  Andreas Ratzlaff, Abraham Richert, Hans Ratzlaff, Tobias Ratzlaff, Heinrich Unruh, Jacob Pankratz und Jacob Knels, in free, eternal and hereditary possesion in a way that they and their descendents will use these 4 Huben 2 Morgen 297 Ruthen due to their wish, however only for farming, with a right to sell them after aknowleging that fact to the Amt (Office)

2. They cede and give His Royal Maiesty in their own name and in the name of their descendents the other half of the Vorwerk 4 Hufen 2 Morgen 297 Ruthen large, together with all Vorwerk building and their winter sowing, beginning from June this year, and resign willingly and firmly from their former empiteutic rights, and also confirm receiving 66 rthlr 60 gr, which they once paid as a half of the Einkaufgeldes 

3. They are obliged to pay yearly from their hereditary 4 huben 2 Morgen 297 Ruthen a half of the previous Canon in amount of 66 Thaler 60 gr to the Świecie Office, a half on St. Martins day and the other half on Candlemess (2nd Febr.) without any reminder, as well as a half of the annual contribution levied upon that Vorwerk in total amount of 6 Thaler, payed in monthly rates.

4. They have to keep the roads and ways within their borders in good condition and plant trees aside them, mantain dykes and damms according to the Damm-Regulations as well as the necessary ditches for conduct of the water and when the need comes to deal with floods; also to clean ditches on Pentecost, St. Johns day and St. Michaelis as well as to serve with their horse and cart (Vorspann) or provide their wagons for military needs and transportation of salt/lumber (salt or lumber, depending on the copy)  in exchange for customary reimbursement, give Fourage, serve with deliveries in exchange for payment, work with people and horses when neccessary during construction works levied by the Office or around the mills, as well as to bring an Achtel (1/8) of firewood from Royal Forests for the need of the Office in exchange for the fixed payment 1 rthlr for 1 Achtel; they are also obliged to give Praestanda to the church and school and milling tax and provide necessary people when a wolf hunt is organized.

5. If the above mentioned settlers fully follow this engagement and praestanda are paid, they should be protected by this document in future

This act of granting hereditary possession is signed and sealed by the Westprussian Chamber for War and Domain from one side and abovementioned appliers from the other side

Done in Marienwerder, 20th May 1774

(locum sigilli)

Royal Westprussian Chamber for Wars and Domain

Andreas Ratzlaff (GRanDMA #107095)

Abraham Richert (48255)

Hans Ratzlaff (47733)

Tobias Ratzlaff (42307)

Heinrich Unruh (32124)

Jacob Pankratz (32955)

Jacob Knels (3699)

Mennonite Family Surnames at Przechówko; Modern day Legacy

 Mennonites began to inhabit the village of Przechówko around the year 1600.  They expanded to occupy many nearby villages on both sides of the Vistula (Deutsch Konopat, Glugowko, Beckersitz, Schonsee, Dorposch, Ostrower Kaempe, etc).  They formed daughter congregations at Jeziorki, Brenkenhofswalde/Franzthal, Sady, Deutsch Michalin.  From those daughters, additional settlements were established in Volyn (Karolswalde, Antonowka, etc).  From Przechówko itself, Franzthal and Alexanderwohl in the Molotschna Colony were established, others from Volyn established Waldheim in Molotschna and then the Brenkenhofswalde/Franzthal folks established Gnadenfeld (Molotschna).  From there, descendants of these groups established congregations across the world.  This expansion and establishment of daughter congregations is unique for Przechówko across the Low German Mennonite world; none of the other original 14 Low German Polish-Prussian Mennonite congregations established daughter congregations in this way.  Thus, we have family names today in places like Alexanderwohl and Lone Tree, which can easily be traced all the way back into the 17th century to the original village.

The Przechówko church record, compilation of which began in the 1780s, is today in the vault of the Alexanderwohl Church in Goessel, Kansas.  These are the surnames, along with frequency, listed in the book (note: I'm writing this article quickly so I will not standardize surnames.  Inconsistencies will occur and don't be put off by this.  For instance, in the churchbook, the surname Voht is spelled differently to how the descendants spell it today - Voth - but indeed it is the same family.  Other examples: Nachtigal/Nightengale, Köhn/Koehn, Gädert/Gaeddert, Böse/Boese, Unrau/Unruh)

These are the surnames from the original record:

We can see how the names of the families in the groups evolved by comparing the original names with subsequent lists.  At the time of his death, John D Richert was working on a Neumark directory - essentially a list and identification of those living in the Mennonite communities at Brenkenhofswalde, Franzthal, and Neu Dessau.  Unfortunately, John's list may never become complete now but he did share a working copy with me and we can easily look at the surnames.  This was the largest daughter community to Przechowko prior to the migrations into the Russian Empire and it's interesting to see how the list evolves.  Many of the additions are Lutheran folks joining the Mennonites in Brandenburg. The core group of names, Voth, Unrau, Ratzlaff, Schmidt, etc, are similar to the above list.  The yellow highlighted names are additions to the originals from Przechowko:

We can continue the exercise by looking at subsequent immigrations lists from the two largest daughter communities in the Russian Empire: Volyn and Molotschna.  These are the names found on the 1874-5 immigrant ships coming from Volyn.  Again, yellow highlighted names are additions to the original Przechowko names.  And again, the core group of Unruhs, Schmidts, Koehns, etc, are still similar to the Przechowko list.  Several names such as Harms, Schroder, and Kliewert are Frisian Mennonite names from Michalin.

Finally, these are the names found on the 1874 Cimbria and Teutonia - the Molotschna Alexanderwohl and Franzthal group.  Again, yellow highlighted names are additions to the original Przechowko names.  The Alexanderwohl/Franthal-ers were joined by a healthy number of Frisian Mennonites from other villages in the Molotschna Colony.  But again, the core group of Schmidts, Unruhs, Ratzlaff, Bullers, and Voths, remain similar to the original Przechowko list. (we should also note that some names here, like Jantzen and Duerksen, were mostly Frisans from Tragheimerweide and not Old Flemish from Przechowko)

So, what happened when they reached North America?  For instance, we can look at the folks at Alexanderwohl like this.  I’ve polled 150 individuals from the 1983 Alexanderwohl churchbook – that’s about 20% of the congregation at that time.  34% of those surveyed in 1983 still had those original Przechowko surnames and a whopping 87% of those surveyed had ancestors found in the village of Przechowko or at the Przechowko church.  52% had either 3 or 4 grandparents with Przechowko ancestry.  So, a great many of the congregants in 1983 - almost 400 years after the birth of the congregation – could still trace their ancestry back to the very first congregants.  

We could do a very similar study with the congregants at Lone Tree, near Canton, Kansas, with even more shocking results.  From the 2020 membership list at Lone Tree, I surveyed about 55% and found that 94% of those surveyed had Przechowko ancestry.  79% had either 3 or 4 grandparents with Przechowko ancestry.  So again, in the year 2020, an estimated 94% of the Lone Tree members could all trace their ancestry back – more than 400 years – to the same place and to the same group of people.

Summertime in Przechówko

Generations of Mennonites in America and around the world have wondered what Przechówko Village would have looked like when our ancestors lived there.  Still today, relatively few Mennonite descendants have visited the village and due to changes in the area, the village land bears little resemblance to how it was during the Mennonite era.

Today, the the area is covered with trees whereas in centuries past, there were actually very few trees (the Prussian planted a lot of these trees in beginning in the 18th century).  The Mondi factory, occupying land cultivated for crops by the Mennonite villagers, creates a huge visual obstruction to the north.  And the general hustle and bustle of modern life - traffic on the Bydgoska Road, urban expansion from the City of Świecie, etc - creates a situation which obscures the geography of the village area.

Cindy Sigmund of Newton, Kansas, has created this painting of the village, named "Summertime in Przechówko".

Here we have a depiction of the village center based on this aerial photo from 1961.

On the painting, the village cemetery is depicted on the bluff in the center, the church on the bluff to the left, two Mennonite houses in the foreground, village fields stretching into the background.  All these elements can be seen on the 1961 aerial photo.

Of course, we don't really know exactly how the village would have looked during the Mennonite era so we have to take some guesses.  Right now, with the cemetery restoration underway, we are beginning to come to an understanding about how the cemetery would have looked.  And we know that the Mennonites grew mostly rye in the fields that stretched northwards from the main village road.  The painting depicts the rye golden and ripe, which should be late summer: late August or early September.

The Mennonite housebarns sit in the foreground.  The house on the left is based on a housebarn which until recently stood in neighboring Wielki Konopat:

The house on the right is based on a housebarn which stood in Przechowko until the very early years of the 21st century.  Thanks to Kathy Friesen for the photo:

We don't know what the church looked like, but we do know what the church in Sady, Poland, constructed by Przechówko congregants in the very early 19th century looked like:

(This photo is taken from a display at Olender museum at Nowy Wiączemin/Muzeum Mazowieckie w Plocku.  I believe it is probably photographed 2010 by Wojech Marchlewski.  Built in 1806, destroyed in 2011)

The depictions of the Mennonite yards are based on scenes found at the Hollander museums in Torun and Nowy Wiączemin:

Willow trees stand along the canal in the extreme foreground.  We know Mennonites planted many willow trees, especially along canals, as a tactic to drain wet ground of excess water.

Plan of the Little Schwetz or Niedwitz Lowland, 7 May , 1791

From the Geheimes Staatarchiv in Berlin, we have XI_HA_PKM_G_Nr_1622_0001, Plan of the Little Schwetz or Niedwitz Lowland, 7 May , 1791; a map of the left bank of the Vistula river in the vicinity of Świecie, Poland, from the year 1791.  This may be the most detailed map we have from the Mennonite era for the village of Przechówko.

The map shows the village conglomeration from Świecie, in the northeast, to Chrystkowo in the southwest; between them, in two rows, Kosowo, Niedźwiedź, Dzikowo, Głogówko, and Gruczno, Dworzysko, Deutsch Konopat, Przechówko, Beckersitz, and Przechowo.  This map helps to explain a lot of questions that have arisen regarding the geography of the Przechówko area during the Mennonite-era.

This cropping, annotated with my notes, shows some explanation:

In purple at left (west) is Deutsch Konopat (today = Wielki Konopat), then "Przechowkower Grundstüke" or Przechowko Land Plots, in red.  In green are plots of land belonging to Przechowo (the Przechowo Vorwerk).  Next is Beckersitz (in yellow), "Przechowko property which is called BeckerLoos".  Then again in green, Przechowo properties.  In blue is the Glugowko dairy.  Separating the two rows, north from south, is a ditch or canal, which still exists today.

Several points to note:

There has been some confusion about the names Przechowko and Przechowo.  Przechowo is the larger town mostly on the north side of the Wda River.  Przechowko is actually named after Przechowo; Przechowko is a diminutive of Przechowo, literally meaning small Przechowo.  In German sometimes we see Przechowko named as Klein Przechowo (see 1773 Prussian census).  We also know that Przechowko villagers sometimes leased land known as the Przechowo Vorwerk - Przechowo manor land.  This map identifies the location of that land as immediately to the east of Przechowko.  So, this is all something very confusing for modern Americans, but we have 3 pieces of land here: Przechowko, the Przechowo Vorwerk, and Przechowo itself.  Each of these "sections" of land were distinct and different.

And to add to confusion is Beckersitz (in Polish sometimes we find it listed as Piekary/Bekierzyc).  This is a piece of land, according to this map, that is property of the village of Przechowko.  And with the 1773 census, we have corroboration that Beckersitz is a separate property of land owned or leased by the village of Przechowko.  So Beckersitz residents were also Przechowko residents, but not really.

At the top of the map we have the row of bluffs and the road which ran from Przechowo to Niewieścin, which is basically the Bydgoska Road, then the E261 today.  Note that houses are built on top of the bluff, when in reality they were below the bluff.

This cropping of 1796 Schroetter map (SBB_IIIC_Kart_N 1020_Blatt 119 Berlin Geheimes Staatarchiv) shows the area at almost the same time period with a more accurate geographical perspective.  Note here that Przechowko (circled red) shows 12 properties, Deutsch Konopatt, 24, Bekersitz, 4.  Note here also that houses are marked, sitting below the bluff, which more reflects reality than the other map above.