Monday, April 23, 2012

Wedel and Ratzlaff roots in Neumark

Susanna (Wedel) Ratzlaff’s Wedel, Nickel and Buller ancestors, like the Ratzlaffs, can be associated with the Old Flemish sect of Mennonites living in West Prussia; namely Przechowka and its associated villages/congregations.  At this time, unfortunately, I have little further specific information about Susanna’s ancestors.  The Wedel, Nickel and Buller families lived in the Karolswalde villages surrounding the time when Susanna was born.  Indeed, the Tobias Unruh Karolswalde baptism lists record many names from these families.  However, I don’t know any other details for certain about them.  There were also a very small number of Litkes (also spelled Luetke or Lichti) around Karolswalde, but more about them later.

GRANDMA tells us little about these specific families.  Nickel was a fairly common Mennonite name and Nickels can be found in the Prussian Mennonite records in locations from Danzig to Schonsee and everywhere in between as far back as the 17th Century. (http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/N535ME.html/?searchterm=nickel)
The Buller family may have been somewhat more limited.  Mennonite records suggest that the first Buller Mennonites were found in the 17th Century near the Schonsee area of West Prussia, which is near Przechowka (http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/B8464.html/?searchterm=buller).
Like the Nickels, the Wedel family name could also be found among West Prussian Mennonites from Danzig to Przechowka (http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/W435ME.html/?searchterm=wedel).  It’s especially prevalent, though, among the families associated with Przechowka and/or Alexanderwohl.  Many Wedels are listed in the GRANDMA database.

Bullers and Wedels (as well as Ratzlaffs) can all be found in the records of the Old Flemish Mennonite villages of Brenkenhoffswalde, Franzthal and Neu-Dessau near Driesen in Brandenburg. The names can be found in the Przechowka Churchbook, as well as Court and Land records from the Neumark in Brandenburg during the mid-18th Century:

Here are the Wedel, Buller and Ratzlaff names from the above sources, as well as from the Przechowka Churchbook, who lived in the Brandenburg villages in the 18th century:


Deed Records
Land Tax

Brandenburg

Przechowka

Neu-Dessau
Driesen Area
Settlers

Churchbook

1771-1787
1826

1767-1778

18th Century

Buller
David
Buller

Buller
David
Neu-Dessau
Buller
David
Franzthal







Buller
Hans





Buller
George
Franzthal
Buller
Jeorg I








Buller
Jeorg II
Franzthal




Buller
Peter
Brenkenhoffs.
Buller
Peter
Brenkenhoffs.












Rettschlag
Friedrich








Rettschlag
Tobias








Retzlaff
Behrend



Ratzlaff
Hans I
Neumark




Ratzlaff
Hans
Franzthal
Ratzlaff
Hans II
Neu-Dessau










Ratzlaff
Johann


Retzlaff
Johann
Neu-Dessau







Ratzlaff
George
Franzthal










Ratzlaff
Hinrich








Ratzlaff
Peter I





Ratzlaff
Peter I
Franzthal
Ratzlaff
Peter II
Brenkenhoffs.




Ratzlaff
Peter II
Brenkenhoffs.
Ratzlaff
Peter











Wedel
Cornelius





Wedel
Benjamin
Brenkenhoffs.







Wedel
Jacob
Brenkenhoffs.


Wedell
Peter



Wedel
Peter




Johann Ratzlaff, who was discussed at length earlier, can be found among the records, as well as several different Buller families.  The Wedels in these records are relatively few.  One name that’s particularly intriguing is Cornelius Wedel who was associated with Deutsche Konopat.  I’m not sure yet where Deutsche Konopat was located, but it was associated with the Przechowka congregation.  It’s interesting to note that GRANDMA tells us there was a Cornels Wedel associated with the Przechowka congregation who was born in 1747.  This Cornels had a son named Benjamin, born 1772.

If this is the same Cornels (Cornelius) Wedel who we find mentioned in the records above, he could be Susanna (Wedel) Ratzlaff’s great great grandfather. 

GRANDMA indicates that Benjamin, son of Cornels, was born in 1772.  We know Susanna’s grandfather, Jacob Wedel, was born in 1818.  We also know that Jacob’s father’s name was Benjamin.  We don’t know a birthdate for Benjamin, but it would probably have been in the last quarter of the 18th Century.  GRANDMA doesn’t list any children for Benjamin Wedel (b. 1772).  It’s common for sources to lose track of a person after they move out of the area and that’s probably why no children are listed for this Benjamin.  It’s very possible that Cornels moved into Brandenburg in the late 18th century (thus his name in the Brandenburg land records) and the Przechowka Mennonite records lost track of him.  His son Benjamin may have moved into Volhynia.  Benjamin’s great-granddaughter may have been our Susanna.

As stated earlier, the Buller name is common among the Brandenburg Mennonites and Susanna might be descended from any of these.  The Nickel name, however, is absent from all the above-mentioned land and court records as well as from the Przechowka Churchbook.  There are a fair number of Nickels listed in the Tobias Unruh Karolswalde baptism lists in Volhyhia though.  The Nickels, apparently, followed a different path to Volhynia than did the Ratzlaffs, Wedels and Bullers.

Here's a map of the Netzebruch area from around 1900.  Note the marshes on either side of Driesen.  Franzthal and Brenkenhoffswalde are west of Driesen, Neu-Dessau is to the east:


Geographically, the area around Driesen is sometime called the Netzebruch (http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/N478.html).  It's the marshy area along the Netze River near Driesen.  The larger surrounding area is sometimes politically called the Neumark (http://prussianpoland.com/neumark.html).  When the Mennnonites occupied these villages, the Neumark was controlled politically by the German State of Brandenburg.  Like other German states (Prussia or Bavaria for example) Brandenburg was controlled at various times by different German Princes.  In the 18th Century, Brandenburg was closely linked with the Prussian States.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Rod,

    My maiden name is Ratzlaff, and I have enjoyed reading through your information--and I am up to this page. You have information regarding Peter Ratzlaff I and Peter Ratzlaff II from the Przechowka Churchbook. Is the churchbook available online, or where did you find your information?

    I/We are wanting to determine if the following two people are in fact the same person, as I believe they are:

    Peter Ratzlaff GRANDMA bk 31787
    b 23 June 1798
    m 23 Oct 1821 to Sarah Funk
    m 15 Aug 1845 to Helene Wedel
    d 13 Oct 1854
    (He is our ancestor, and no parents are identified on GRANDMA)

    Peter Ratzlaff GRANDMA bk 47891
    b 28 April 1798
    (There is no death date or descendants listed for this Peter Ratzlaff) This Peter Ratzlaff's ancestors can be traced back to Hans Ratzlaff GRANDMA bk 36101

    You can email me at: monkeelv@gmail.com

    Thank you!
    Gayle

    ReplyDelete