Martin Maas

It is not yet clear where the Maas family came from. The family can be found in Krasna as early as 1814. In terms of numbers, the clan is one of the medium-sized families in the village.

Their oldest members are listed below; they appear in various documents relating to Krasna. It has not yet been possible to determine their relationship to each other. Were they related, and if so, how?

1. Martin = 1782 ¹
2. Friederich *1793²
3. Michael *1796
4. Rosina *1806
5. Georg *1810 ³

Numbers 1-3 belong to approximately the same generation. If they were related, they could have been brothers or cousins.

Numbers 4 and 5 could be Martin's children.

Martin and Georg or their wives are not godparents to each other, whereas this is the case between Georg and Michael. Does this suggest that Martin was rather Georg's father and Michael perhaps an uncle or brother?

Martin Maas probably emigrated to Bessarabia in 1814 from South Prussia, where the group of people from Orzechowo⁴ came from.

There is no 100 percent certainty that we have found the right Martin, because the name Martin Maas is very common in the area between the Oder and the Vistula (West Prussia, Netze District, South Prussia)⁵. But of the many names I have checked, a whole series of parameters apply to the above-mentioned name for the one occurring in Krasna.

He has many points of contact with the Bogolowski family in Krasna. Both have roots in the village of Polajewo (Oborniki). Jakob Bogolowski's marriage is documented in the Catholic Parish of Polajewo (Oborniki) [Güldenau] entry 6/1804:

Name Jacobus Bogalowski Alter 22 Jahre
Name of the spouse Rosinam Jarecka Age 18 years
Date 27. Nov 1804 Polajewo, Czarnków-Trzcianka, Woiwodschaft Großpolen

Martin Maas was godfather in Krasna to Jacob Bogolowski *3.5.1819; parents: Jacob Bogolowski and Rosina Bogolowski.

Martin Maas' father could come from the same region as Bogolowski:

Name	Michaelem Mas
Name of the father	Christopho Mas
Name of the mother	Catharinae
Type of event	Baptism
Date of the event	28 Aug 1753
Event location	Polajewo, Oborniki, poznanskie, Polen, Page number 48, 49

This Michael probably got married in Murowana Goslina:

Name	Michael Maasz
Name of the spouse	Marjanna Kergern
Type of event	Marriage
Date of the event	4 Nov 1781
Event location	Murowana Goslina, Oborniki, poznanskie, Polen, Page number 268, 269

Im gleichen Ort wäre dann Martin geboren⁶:

Name	Martyn
Name of the father	Michael Mas
Name of the mother	Marianna Masen Krckerny/ Marjanna Kerdern
Type of event	Baptism
Date of the event	14 Sep 1783
Event location	Murowana Goslina, Oborniki, poznanskie, Polen, Page number 102, 103

The distance from Polajewo to Murowana Goslina was 35 km.

The Province of South Prussia was a province of the State of Prussia outside the Holy Roman Empire from 1793 to 1807. It comprised the territories of the historical regions of Greater Poland and Mazovia, which had been annexed by Prussia with the Second Partition of Poland.

After the Second Partition of Poland from 1793 to 1807, the area around the western Polish town of Obornik belonged to the district of Obornik in the Prussian province of South Prussia. As a result of the Peace of Tilsit, the area became part of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807.

• The Polajewo estate was managed by the Saenger family as the property of the Prussian Bank, who owned the estate until the First World War.
• The town and manor of Murowana Goslin was assigned to the district of Obornik in the province of Poznan. At the end of the 18th century, Murowana Goslin was owned by the family of the Counts Gurowski. The town was inhabited by approximately half Germans and half Poles.

Further data on Martin Maas was obtained from the following documents.

1. Baptismal register of Krasna
Martin Maas appears several times as the father in the Krasna baptismal register, but for the first time in 1819.
• # 208 * 17.3.1819 Child Eva Mass (Maas) Parent: Martin Mass (Maas), Catharina Mass (Maas)
• # 317 *29.5.1823 Child Catharina Maser (Maas) Parent: Martin Maser (Maas), Catharina Maser (Maas)
2. Census 1835/1850 von Krasna
Michael Maas
• # 130/1835 Widow: Anna Maria Maas 37
  Son: Peter 11, Daughters: Margaretha 14, Anna 6
  There were other children of Michael, but they died before 1835.
  Michael was still godfather in 1828, he must have died shortly afterwards.
  
• # 112/1850
  Peter Maas 26 - Wife: Rosina 24, Daughter: Katharina 1½Peter Maas 26 - Wife: Rosina 24, Daughter: Katharina 1½
Martin Maas
• # 85/1835 Martin Maas 53 - Wife: Katharina 50, Daughter: Anna 12
• 1850 s. Eintrag bei Georg
Georg Maas
• # 84/1835 Georg Maas 24 - Wife: Anna 25, Daughters: Marianna 3, Theresia 2, Karolina ¼
• # 72/1850 Georg Maas died 1849 age 38 - Wife: Anna 39
  Sons: Karl 5½, Ferdinand 1½ , Daughters: Theresia 17, Katharina 15½, Barbara 12½, Katharina 10, Anna 7½
  (Relationship not known): Martin Maas (Departed abroad in 1843)
3. AUDITING REGISTER: 01 April 1835, Krasna (register of men & women who are to be taxed in Krasna Colony)
# 85; Martin Maas age 53.

Martin's departure from Krasna

The 1850 census mentions 16 families who moved abroad in 1843, including Martin Maas, but does not specify the reasons for their departure or where they went. We also do not know why Martin left Krasna. He was already over 60 years old at the time. It was usual for parents to stay on their children's farm as they grew older.
But we know where he turned. Five of the 16 families who moved away appear in a document in Galatz⁷:

• Bogolowski, Maas, Mohr, Hittel appears in Galatz on February 21, 1843, so they traveled together.
• Brandt arrived in Galatz on March 7, 1843.

This can be seen from a list enclosed with the letter dated 11.05.1843 from the Austrian consul in Galatz:

Krasna Revisionliste (Census) 1835	Krasna moves abroad around 1843 (source: Census 1850)	"Verzeichnis Kolonisten aus Bessarabien in Galatz eingelangt"
Konrad Hittel 38 - Wife: Susanna 28, Sons: Jakob 16, Johann 14, Paul, Daughter: Elisabetha 7.	Konrad Hittel (moved abroad in 1843)	February 21, 1843 Konrad (G)Hittel husband, wife, six children With his 2nd wife Susanna Novak he had six children.
Wendelin Mohr 37 - Wife: Maria Eva 34, Sons: Johann 16, Anton 8, Frederik 4, Klemens 2, Daughter: Magdalena 6	Wendelin Mohr (taken away to a foreign country in 1843)	On February 21, 1843 Wendel Mor husband, wife, four children The couple had four sons, the two older children remained in Krasna.
Peter Bogolowski 31 - Wife: Katharina 27 Son: Martin 5 Daughters: Viktoria 2, Helena %	Peter Bogolowski (swept away to a foreign country in 1843)	February 21, 1843 Peter Bogolowski husband, wife, five children Number of children not correct according to OFB Krasna.
Martin Maas 53 - Wife: Katharina 50 Daughter: Anna 12	Martin Maas (swept away to a foreign country in 1843)	On February 21, 1843 Martin Maas husband, wife, one child. According to OFB Krasna all children known there remained in Krasna. Ferdinand Maas (son of Georg Maas) appears in Dobudscha.
Gottfried Brandt 33 - Wife: Sophia 31 Sons: Martin 9, Johann 7 Daughter: Elisabetha	Gottlieb Brandt (moved abroad in 1843)	Am 07. März 1843 Gottfried Brand Husband, wife, five children Lt OFB Krasna had five children as a couple

In his above-mentioned letter of May 11, 1843, the Austrian consul in Galatz wrote: "In February and March, German colonists who had subsequently emigrated from Bessarabia arrived in Galatz, who also crossed the Danube and joined the earlier colonists".
The "former colonists" included Catholics from the Odessa region. Because land was becoming scarce in the colonies of the Kuchurgan and Berezan regions, inhabitants from Josephsthal, Mannheim, Alsace, Landau and Katharinenthal, among others, moved through Bessarabia to Wallachia. They lived in various places for a year and a half and then went via Galatz (Galati) to Dobruja. In 1843, they founded the first German settlement there, Malkotsch (Malcoci) near Tulcea.

Wallachia is bordered to the north by the Southern Carpathians and to the south by the Danube, which is also the border with Bulgaria. The river Olt divides it into Great Wallachia (Muntenia) in the east and Little Wallachia (Oltenia) in the west. The largest city in Wallachia is the Romanian capital Bucharest.

Since at that time people attached great importance to living together with like-minded religious people, there is much to suggest that our Krasna people also came to Malkotsch in 1843 or a little later, either together with the above colonists from Kuchurgan and Berezan or shortly afterwards. In any case, the parish list of the village of Malkotsch from 1847 onwards shows Krasna residents who appear in the above list of emigrants who moved via Galatz.

Traeger : "Der erste Catalogo dello stato dell'anime esistenti in Malkoc 1847 , 1novembre, lists 28 families with 134 souls. They bear the following names: Heret (Ehret), Kunzler, Mak (Mach, Mack), Hittl, Baumstergk (Baumstark), Anghat (Ankert), Hek (Heck), Kres (Gres, Greß), Rifll (Riffel), Kooset (Kost), Hoffart, Klaaen (Klain, Klein). Prendel, Frank, Kiffer (Kiefer), Vaidaman (Weidemann), Drescher, Kokert (Gugert), Book, Scmit (Schmidt), Bruker (Brücker), Haispelader. There are no other lists of inhabitants from the following years in the book. However, we can see from the other entries how the village gradually grew until 1861 due to new arrivals. New family names appear alongside the old ones: Vahner, Screder (Schroeder), Brand, Krieger, Führer, Martin, Weiß, Sießler (Schüßler), Türk, Mehle (Melle), Keim, Geiß. Tuchserer (Tuchscheerer), Hink, Waibl among others also a polonista Bukalovski (Bobolovski)."

Eduard Volk
Neuwied, März 2025
Eduard's ancestor is Klemens VOLK

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1. According to the 1835 census, Martin was about 53 years old in 1835, i.e. he must have been born around 1782 (+/- 1 to 2 years)
2. The name Maas is also found in the Bessarabian colony of Arzis. The oldest person of this name there is Friedrich * 1791, who had a child baptized in Krasna: Baptismal register Krasna # 87 * 29.7.1816. Name of the child: Maria Christina Mass (Maas). Parents: Friedrich Mass (Maas), Maria Mass (Maas) Colony 14 (Arzis). The godparents were also from Arzis.
   According to the history of Arzis, which was founded in 1816, two groups of "Warsaw colonists" arrived, the first from the "Kulmer Land" north of Warsaw. Friedrich must have belonged to this group, as he was already there in 1816. It has not yet been possible to determine whether there was a connection to the Krasna Maas.
3. By the way: Stumpp only mentions Georg as the first immigrant to Krasna (but he was only four years old in 1814). He can hardly have come alone.
4. A relationship with the Maas clan from the Saarland, who emigrated to the Zamosc region in Galicia in 1784, from where a number of people came to Krasna, can be ruled out.
5. Some of the emigrants settled by the Prussians in West Prussia and the Netzedistrict or their descendants moved on to the provinces of South and New East Prussia, which had been gained by Prussia, after the second and third partitions of Poland.
6. Martin's wife is called Katharina. Her marriage has not yet been found
7. Letter dated May 11, 1843 from the Austrian consul in Galatz to Vienna
8. In Träger footnote 8, S. 47