EDR's ancestors

Chapter 1

Evangeline’s Ancestors

Her father’s ancestors

In  the 16th century, there was widespread persecution of Anabaptists, which include the  Mennonites, in western Europe. In Flanders, it was especially severe. As a result, a group of people fled from there to Groningen, East Friesland (Netherlands).

Around the year 1540, they moved on to the delta of the Vistula River near Marienburg (now Malbork, Poland. Here they drained the marshes and founded the village of Wintersdorf (or Przechówko) on the estate of a Polish nobleman.

They were pacifists and as time passed, they were forced to pay large sums of money for the privilege of exemption from military service. In the year 1764, a group of 35 families moved to Mark Brandenburg, West Prussia, where they settled on the estate of Baron von Brenkenhof near Driesen in Neumark. Here they founded the communities of Brenkenhofswalde, Franztasl and New Dessau.

Peter Janz, the leading minister of their congregation, donated a piece of land and collected money from their brethren in the Netherlands to build a church. His son, also called Peter, had a daughter Sarah, who married Benjamin Voth of Franztal. They had a daughter Elisabeth.

After the death of Baron von Brenkenhof, the settlers were oppressed by his heirs, as well as by the government in Berlin. Therefore, in the year 1834 their white-bearded leading minister Wilhelm Lange traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to obtain entry permits for 40 families. He himself guided this group as far as the Molotschna River and continued to advise them there. In the Molotschna Mennonite settlement, they founded the village of Gnadenfeld in 1835.

Among these settlers of Gnadenfeld were our ancestors, my grandparents David Dirks and Elizabeth Voth. They were still single at the time. Besides Elisabeth’s family, her cousins Lieske and Marike also came along. These girls, together with Elisabeth had worked as goose-girls on the estate Brenkenhof, and had known David as a shepherd there. They traveled to their new home in Russia on foot and their feet swelled. They were all poor people who trusted in God.

Her mother’s ancestors

In the 17th century, a family named Schroeder lived in Hamburg, Germany. Some of the Schroeders were businessmen and city councilors. The family’s coat of arms was a flying swan, a horn of plenty hung by a little chain from its beak. The swan was supposed to represent the musical bent of the family. I once saw this coat of arms, together with a long list of names of the Schroeder family from that era. It was in the Bible of a very old Mrs. Schroeder in Russia. Some of the names listed were Heinrich, Johann, Times and even a Fruehling Schroeder.

David Times Schroeder emigrated from Germany to South Russia. His son Heinrich married Anna Reimer. One of their daughters was Aganetha Schroeder, who later married Heinrich Dirks, the son of David and Elizabeth Dirks.