Schlick family

The name Schlick only existed in Krasna, in no other Bessarabian colony. Although the Schlick family is not particularly large in terms of members, it can look back on a long line of ancestors. Christian Schlick, born on June 17, 1798 in Salmbach/Elsass, came to Krasna.

According to the source below, his ancestors are said to belong to the Bohemian patrician Schlick family, which can be traced back to Heinrich SCHLICK †1425.

Albin Schlick is the oldest proven ancestor in Germany.
Here is the early succession of generations of Schlicks in Bohemia:

Heinrich SCHLICK † 1425 & Constance de COLLALTO

Mathias SCHLICK † 1487 & * 1437 Kunigunde von SEINSHEIM de SCHWARZENBERG †1469

Kaspar SCHLICK * ca. 1460, † ca. 1516 & Elisabeth von GUTENSTEIN

Lorenz SCHLICK & Katarina von WARTENBERG

Christoph SCHLICK * ca. 1525, †1578 & Barbara von KOLOWRAT

Wilhelm SCHLICK † 1604 & Dorothea von KOLOWRAT-NOWOHRADSKA

Albin SCHLICK * ca. 1580, † 1620/ & ? ?

In addition to the counties of Passaun (Bassano) in northern Italy and Weißkirchen in what is now western Slovakia, the Schlicks also owned Falkenau an der Eger and other farms.

Representatives of the family took an active part in the uprisings against the Habsburgs in 1618-1620. Frederick V of the Palatinate, King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620, was forced to retire after the Battle of White Mountain on November 8, 1620¹ abdicate² and return to the Palatinate. Loyal supporters of the Bohemian nobility may have followed him there.

After the Battle of White Mountain, the Protestant Schlik also lost their property, which was confiscated by the Emperor. After taking part in the uprising against the Habsburgs in Bohemia, Albin Schlick came to Fischbach in the Palatinate in 1620 (Historischer Verein für die Bayerischen Rheinlande taken over by D.A. Kastens in 1831).³

Pierre Albin Schlick * ca. 1582 Falkenau (Böhmen) - today Sokolov, † ca. 1635 in Fischbach, Age: maybe 53 years old
Parents: Wilhelm Schlick † 1604 and Dorothea von Kolowrat-Nowohradska
Married to Johanne von WILDENFELS * 1582, † 1623, 41 years old
Children: Jean Georges Schlick * ca. 1616, † ca. 1670

Jean Georg SCHLICK * 1616, † 1670 in Fischbach , Age: 54 years old
Parents: Albin SCHLICK * ca. 1580, † 1620 and ? ?
Married to Apollonia HOFFMANN † ca. 1673 (second marriage)
Children:

M Hans Léonard SCHLICK * ca. 1645
M Ludwig SCHLICK

In his first marriage he was married to N SCHAFF
Children:

M Johann Adam SCHLICK * ca. 1646, † 1726

Hans Léonard SCHLICK * ca. 1645 in Fischbach, Südwestpfalz, † 1703
Parents: Jean Georges SCHLICK * ca. 1616, † ca. 1670 and Appolonia HOFFMANN * ca. 1625, † ca. 1673
Married to Anna Catharina STAUB * ca. 1628,
Children:

M Simon SCHLICK * ca. 1665, † 1743
M Balthazar SCHLICK * ca. 1668. † 1733
M Johann Philipp SCHLICK * ca. 1670

Balthazard SCHLICK, * ca. 1670 in Bundenthal/Pfalz, † 12. Oktober 1733 in Bundenthal
Parents: Hans Léonard SCHLICK * ca. 1645 and Anna Catharina STAUB * ca. 1628
Married on 8. April 1704, Bitche, to Marie Marguerite REMY * 1685
Children:

M François-Joseph SCHLICK * ca. 1715, † 1799

Franz Joseph Schlick sen. * 1715 in Bundenthal, Kreis Südwestpfalz, † 28. Februar 1799 Salmbach, Bas Rhin, Alsace, Alter: 84 Jahre
Parents: Balthazar SCHLICK * ca. 1668, † 1733 and Marie Marguerite REMY * 1685
Married on 27. November 1743, Salmbach, Bas Rhin to Maria Eva CHRIST * 1725, † 1798
The couple had a total of 14 children. The following are relevant for us:

M Philippy SCHLICK * 1752, † 1820
M Franciscus SCHLICK * 1753

Philipp SCHLICK * 08. Januar 1752 in Salmbach, married Regina Brenckle on 27.01.1784 according to the Salmbach church register.
Her daughter Marie Apolline SCHLICK was born in Poland: on 5. April 1810 - Rzeczyka, Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Lodz, Pologne.
The family returned to Salmbach before 1818.

François Joseph SCHLICK, * 20. August 1753 in Salmbach, 67432, Bas Rhin, Deceased
Parents: François Joseph SCHLICK * 1715, † 1799 and Maria Eva CHRIST * 1725, † 1798
Married on 4. Mai 1784, Salmbach, Bas Rhin, Alsace to Marie Barbara CHRIST * 1762
Children:

1. Maria Sybila SCHLICK * 1786
2. André (Andréas) SCHLICK * 1789
   
3. Marie Elisabeth (Maria Elisabetha) SCHLICK * 1791, † 1792
4. Catherine SCHLICK * 1796
5. Christian SCHLICK * 1798
6. Marie Anne SCHLICK * 1800

Franz Joseph Schlick and his brother Philipp Schlick emigrated with their families to South Prussia⁴. This was probably prompted by the hardship experienced in Lower Alsace during the French Revolution.⁵ was created.
This particularly affected the districts of Weißenburg, Hagenau and Zabern bordering on the southern Palatinate and northern Baden. They had been badly hit during the revolutionary years and had therefore become much poorer than the other cantons in Lower Alsace.
Many Alsatians fled across the Rhine to Baden. The government sold their former properties to those who had stayed behind and those who had migrated. Dispossessed, uprooted and discouraged, former farmers and landowners now had to work as day laborers and field workers. There were also many other grievances that the poor people complained about.

South Prussia was a province of the state of Prussia from 1793 to 1807⁶. 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.
During the Prussian administration, the Prussian authorities carried out targeted settlements. During this time, the so-called "Schwabendörfer" ("Swabian villages") were created, as the new settlers were mostly recruited in south-west Germany (the Palatinate, Hesse, Lorraine, Alsace and Württemberg), which was threatened by war.
The colonists reached South Prussia via Marburg, Hersfeld, Gotha, Erfurt, Leipzig, Mühlberg, Cottbus, Krossen a. O. on horse-drawn carts or on foot, the journey taking approx. 6 - 8 weeks.
The government supported the colonists by allocating land, travel allowances, building houses and allocating farm equipment.
The settlement conditions were initially favorable. But from 1803, when the Schlick brothers arrived, the benefits were made dependent on the assets the colonists brought with them, which meant that many applicants were only given a cottage site with 4-6 acres, forcing them to earn their living as day laborers or craftsmen. The latter also applied to Franz Schlick.
Both are mentioned in the Altpreußische Geschlechterkunde⁷:

• Philipp Schlick, 1803 settled in Kol. Birkenfeld[e] [aka Brzozow] Amt Lubochnia:
  9. Schlik Philipp 8 Persons Lautenbach/Lauferbach
• As Häusler are established on domain outbuildings: Franz Schlick in Beczyca Amt Lubochnia:
  Schlick Franz 7 Pers./ Elsass Rzeczyca Amt Lubochnia

Brzozów (deutsch Birkenfeld or also Birkenfelde) is a village founded in 1802 as a Prussian colony and today belongs to the commune of Rzeczyca in Tomaszów County, Lódz Voivodeship, Poland.

At the end of the 16th century, Rzeczyca was a royal village in the dominion of Inowlódz. The Rzeczyca estate was located in the area of the village. This explains the settlement of Häuslern on domain outbuildings.

The photo below shows the manor house. It probably no longer stands today.

But after only a few years in Poland, the Schlick family once again found themselves in troubled/difficult times. Like many German settlers, they found themselves in a desperate situation in the Duchy of Warsaw⁸, which was founded in 1807:

• The "free years" had expired for the settlers; despite poor harvests, they now had to pay taxes. In view of their catastrophic economic situation, the colonists were often barely able to do so.
• In several of Napoleon's battles against Austria in 1809, their fields were devastated and they had to supply the soldiers.
• This was followed in 1812 by the passage of troops, requisitions and looting during Napoleon's campaign to Russia and the return of the defeated French army to the west.

The Russian Tsar had become aware of the settlers' bleak situation while pursuing Napoleon's Grande Armée on the retreat from their Russian campaign (Russian troops were already back in Warsaw in the spring of 1813). He made them a tempting offer. In his appeal of November 29, 1813, Tsar Alexander assured German settlers who wanted to settle as colonists in Bessarabia of land and freedom rights "in perpetuity".
Like many others, the Schlicks took the opportunity to escape their misery and make a fresh start. They left their barely acquired home in Poland and moved to Bessarabia in 1814 and founded the colony of Krasna.

Franz Schlick's son Christian moved on from South Prussia to Krasna⁹.
Whether this was with his parents or whether he traveled alone or with another family is not (yet) known. Christian is the oldest male person of this name in Ted Becker's Krasna database. It is not possible to prove whether he arrived there when the colony was founded (1814/15) or later. He is first mentioned in writing in 1831 (Krasna church register). He is said to have married in Krasna in 1830.

It would be difficult to find traces of him in Poland: he was not born there and probably did not marry there. In addition, records of births, marriages and deaths in the Duchy of Warsaw were only made compulsory by Napoleon. Catholic parishes had to do this on behalf of the state. Corresponding entries often only begin in 1808.

The first mention of the name Schlick in the church register of Krasna An Elisabeth Schlick appears as godmother at the baptism of Albert Braun on 14. 10. 1823. This is repeated at the baptism of Peter Märtz on 23. 12. 1825. She does not appear in any other documents. This could be a sign that she died or moved away soon after being mentioned in the baptismal register. It is not clear whether her maiden name is Schlick. This would probably be the case if she was not a widow or Christian's wife at this time, as there is no male Schlick in Krasna at this time apart from Christian. It would be conceivable: both were between 23 and 25 years old in 1823; his documented marriage to Anna Maria Wagner dates from 1830, when he was already 32 years old. She could not have been his sister. One of them, named Elisabeth, died in 1792. The cousin Elisabetha Schlick, born on June 20, 1801 - Salmbach was also in Poland, but returned to Alsace around 1813 with her father Philipp Schlick, a brother of Christian Schlick's father Franz Joseph, and married there.

Christian Schlick in Krasna
Married to Anna Maria WAGNER * ca. 1820 (Parents: Johannes Peter WAGNER * 1796 & Margaretha PETSCH * 1798 )
Children:

Elisabetha SCHLICK * ca. 1839, † 1922
Magdalena SCHLICK * ca. 1835
Josef SCHLICK * 1845, † 1913

He had a total of seven children with his wife Anna Maria Wagner.

AUDITING REGISTER: 01 April 1835, Auditing Register (Tax List) of Krasna Bessarabia Russia, (register of men & women who are to be taxed in Krasna Colony), National Archive of Moldowa, Kischinev, Moldowa (Moldavia), Fond 134, Inventory 2, File 9, Pages 138-181.
Family # 49; Christian age 38 yr.

CENSUS: 1835/1850; Krasna Bess/Russ; Located in National Archives of Moldavia, Kischinev Moldavia;

• After the Census 1835:
  # 49 Christian Schlick 38 - Wife: Anna 21, Son: Dominik 11 mo
• After the Census 1850:
  # 42 Christian Schlick 53 - Wife: Anna Maria 35
  Sons: Dominik 15½, Joseph 3
  Daughters: Elisabetha 10, Magdalena 8, Maria 6

Author:
Eduard Volk
Neuwied, April 2025
Eduard´s Ancestor is Klemens VOLK

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1. The Battle of White Mountain (tschechisch: Bílá hora) took place on November 8, 1620 not far from Prague. It was one of the first and most significant wars of the Thirty Years' War.
2. As his reign only lasted one year, he was given the derisive name "Winter King"
3. According to some sources, he was murdered in Friedland in 1619, according to others he fled and settled in Fischbach
4. The emigration to South Prussia and the later onward migration to Krasna can be found in: "The origin of the Krasna colonists and their migration to Krasna"
5. Period of great political and social upheaval in France between 1789 and 1799.
6. The short history of South Prussia lasted only from the second partition of Poland in 1793 until 1806, when the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was created after the defeat by Napoleon.
7. Old Prussian genealogy, S. Prussia (T. Stangl)
   Martin Schiewe, Acta wegen ...1781-1806 z. Etablissement sich gemeldeter Kolonisten, in: Altpreußische Geschlechterkunde, Hamburg 2004. Kolonistenlisten aus GStA PK I, HA Geh. Rat, Rep. 7B Westpreußen & Netzedistrikt Materien Nr.87, Sek.2, Nr.112, Vol.1-12.
8. In the Peace of Tilsit (1807), Napoleon founded the so-called Duchy of Warsaw. This French satellite state mainly comprised the area of the former Prussian provinces of South and New East Prussia and the Netze District, which had already been transferred to Prussia in 1772.
9. You can read about the onward hike to Krasna in: "The hiking instructors Mathias Müller and Peter Becker"