52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 25 Prompt - Earliest

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 25
Prompt - Earliest

Aron Peters was born about 1745 in Pietzkendorf, Gross Werder, West Prussia and is my direct ancestor of 5 generations. He was Mennonite and as I have said before they are among the most meticulous keepers of family information. He is the earliest Peters in my Peters Genealogy line that I have found.

Aron Peters and family emigrated to Russia and was among the earliest immigrants to settle in the Chortitza Colony of Russia and specifically Schoenhorst Colony.
Danzig, Prussia to Chortitza, Russia
Jacob Hoeppner was one of two delegates selected by the Danzig Mennonite community to lead the first group to New Russia. They left Bohnsach, a little village near Danzig, at nine a.m. on Easter Sunday, March 22, 1788. The emigrants traveled alternately by sleigh and wagon to Riga and then south along the Dongava River to Dubrovno where 228 families were forced to spend a terrible winter.
(The above note was found at The Mennonite Heritage Center who is grateful to William Schroeder of Winnipeg for donating this manuscript collection of maps to the Center. The maps may be downloaded and printed for personal study and research.)
In the meanwhile renewed hostilities between Russia and Turkey forced Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (a Russian nobleman, military leader and favored by Catherine the Great) to locate the first Mennonite settlement not near Berislav but on his own private estate adjacent to the Chortitza Island. In June, 1789, the first settlers arrived at the point where the Chortitza River joins the Dnieper River. This alternate land was apparently less fertile and sparse of trees to build their homes and protect them from the elements.

Journey of Mennonites From Danzig to Chortitza

 
The first settlers like Aron Peters and his family were the earliest peoples to settle the New Russia.  Their journey was difficult. The lumber and monies promised never came to the colony for several years. They built sod huts the first few years to live in.  Their lives were difficult.  Colony life probably made it bearable in those early years.


Wendy