Georg Speicher from Püttlingen/Saarland

The Speicher family was a widely ramified family in Krasna. They were among the founders of the colony in 1814, and their clearly traceable ancestor in Krasna is Georg Speicher.

Origin of the Speicher family

Georg Speicher is a son of Jakob and Anna Maria Speicher in Püttlingen/Saar, born on 29.03.1767.

His ancestors:

• Phillipp Speicher ca 1500 - ca. 1563 & X Calacuro ca 1510 -

Conrad Speicher ca 1550 - & Elsa Neumann ca 1560 - ca 1631

X Speicher ca 1590 - & ? ? †

Wilhelm Speicher ca 1630 - & Margaretha Speicher 1635 - 1680

Johann Speicher 1655 - 1726 & ca 1680 Anna Margaretha Holl 1660 - 1724

Peter Speicher ca 1685 - 1733 & Katharina Karrenbauer 1688 - 1749

Jakob Speicher 1719 - 1793 &1750 Anna Maria Pistorius 1731 - 1778

Johann Nicholas Speicher 1750 -

Johann Georg Speicher 1767 -

The Speicher clan is a very old family in Püttlingen¹. Presumably her ancestor is Johanne von Spicher, born on January 1, 1480 - Völklingen, died on January 1, 1520 - Püttlingen, married in 1499 to Katharina Kessler 1487 - 1503. Johanne VON SPICHER was a sworn notary of the choir bishop of Saarburg in the church of Metz.

A descendant of Spichers was SPEICHER Philipp * around 1510.

The oldest evidence of the granaries in Püttlingen can be found in a tax list for the former "Bächer Herrlichkeit". The list was compiled in 1563 according to information from the Meyer "Heintz von Derlen". According to it, in the time before that, in addition to five other people from Püttlingen, "Philips Speicher" from there also had to pay "one quart of fruit and four albus of money" to Derlen for his estate on "Wölfringer Bann". This is the only mention of the Speicher's ancestor from Püttlingen. He must have died shortly afterwards, because in these years a series of serious disputes began between the inhabitants of Püttlingen and their lordship, whose records mention all the inhabitants several times. It is striking that the name Speicher does not appear at all among those involved in the first dispute, in which the population had not yet completely rebelled due to the fact that they had never before been asked to pay labor.

Memory descendants emigrate to Galicia

Until the end of the 17th century, the region of today's Saarland was exposed to heavy burdens. The Thirty Years' War raged particularly hard on the Saar. This was followed by the Wars of Reunion between 1667 and 1697.

In the 18th century, the severe damage and losses of the Thirty Years' War and the Reunion Wars had not yet been repaired. Indentured labor and the tax burden were constantly increased by the threat of war. The little people had hardly anything left to live on.

It is therefore not surprising that the regions along the Saar (Lorraine, Kurtrier) were among the classic areas of emigration to south-eastern Europe.

Several Speicher descendants emigrated to Galicia to escape the hardship.

Galicia belonged to Poland and gradually became part of Austria from 1772. The country endeavored to settle colonists in its newly acquired territory.

The Speicher emigrants lived in the Zamosc region.

The emperor's recruiters concentrated their efforts particularly on the Palatinate and the Saarland, as this was an area of Germany that was particularly impoverished due to frequent wars with its neighbor France.

Around two thirds of the colonists came from the Palatinate and today's Saarland, mainly in 1784/85. Settlers from other parts of Germany formed a minority in the new homeland.

Two Speicher families emigrated from Püttlingen² to Galicia³ in 1784.

• Speicher Johann 4 Pers, Püttlingen WK 198/72 Departure Vienna on 26.06.1784
• Schweiger Nikolaus Püttlingen (dies ist Nikolaus Speicher ) WK 198/87, Departure Vienna on 26.06.1784

They were settled in the Zamosc area as private settlers. There, the government had managed to get large landowners to make land available to colonists.⁴. Count Zamoyski did the same in Zamosc. Each settler received around 12 hectares of land, a house, stable and barn.

Private settlers in Sitaniec are named in Count Zamoyski's settlement contract:

• Johann Speicher Sitaniec/ Zamosc with 4 people (husband and wife, 2 children)⁵)
  * on 25. Dezember 1750 - Püttlingen, Saarbrücken, Saarland (D)
  † on 18. April 1811 - Sitaniec, (Schitonitz), Zamosc, Galizien, Age: 60 years old
  

  Parents: Jacob SPEICHER 1719 - 1793 and Anna Maria PISTORIUS 1731 - 1778

  oo with Anna Catharina (BALDES) BALTES 1752 - on 28.02.1772, Püttlingen(D),
• Nikolaus Speicher
  According to Wilhelm/Kallbrunner⁶: Entry in transport list in Vienna
  Schweiger Nikolaus Püttlingen 2 Pers. WK 198/87, Departure Vienna on 26.06.1784. (Schweiger does not appear in the Püttlingen family register)
  Registered as a private settler in the Zamosc region in 1786⁷ is Nikolaus Speicher Sitaniec/ Zamosc with 2 persons, husband and wife
  
  

  According to Jacek Klaudel from Danzig - ancestors also emigrated to Sitaniec - who researched the Lublin archives, it is clearly Nikolaus Speicher). Klaudel: "When Nicolas Speicher died, his land went to his son-in-law Piotr Altmajer, as he himself had no sons. Elsewhere it is stated that Nicolas Speicher had a son named Valenty, who gave his land to his son-in-law Jan Schram. There were two colonies of Speicher: "Nikolas and Johann".

Johann Speicher is clearly documented in Püttlingen. This does not apply to Nikolaus. No "suitable" Nikolaus Speicher could be found in Saarland documents (church registers etc.). He was not found in the Püttlingen family register.

He may have come from another place in the vicinity of Püttlingen; the name Speicher is very common in this area. He may have emigrated without permission.

Johann Georg Speicher * 29.03.1767, a brother of Johannes Speicher who emigrated in 1784, also went to Galicia, but he does not belong to the group of private settlers named in the 1785 contract.

He probably only moved there in 1788/89, but without permission; he is not entered in the transportation list in Vienna (see Wilhelm/Kallbrunner).

Werner Hacker writes on p. 692 in Auswanderungen aus Rheinpfalz Saarland im 18. Jahrhundert, Konrad Theiss Verlag Stuttgart: "Speicher, Georg, Püttlingen, sells his inheritance for 200 fl. Emigration refused. (Nevertheless emigrates, because) the 200 fl are requisitioned by the Winnweiler Superior Office from Nassau-Saarbrücken, as the emigrant in Zamosc only has to pay deductions (1788)."

We have the contract between Georg Speicher and his brothers Nikolaus and Valentin concerning the sale of his property in Püttlingen.

He lived in Sitaniec at least some of the time, as he is mentioned several times in the church register there (see below).

It is quite possible that he went to Poland with Valentin Löb, because he was godfather in Püttlingen from Sitaniec in 1788 and went back to Poland: "Valentin Löb, who comes from Püttlingen and lives in Poland in the vicinity of Schidanitz (Sitaniec)", was godfather to Valentin Balzert on February 12, 1788.

He may have bought a farm privately from his fortune (see above). The following statement by Jacek Klaudel, whose ancestors emigrated together with Dirk, Söhn, Speicher, Paul etc. and who researched the Lublin archives, supports this: "Jan Tressler returned to his home country after his house burned down and his land was given to Grzegorz Speicher, who went bankrupt and sold it to Jan Thor."

Georg Speicher's family appears repeatedly in the church register of Sitaniec:

• the marriage of Speicher Jerzy oo Hofman in Elzbieta Zamosc 1788 October 21
• all the children who moved on to Krasna, plus two who died in Sitaniec as infants.

Onward hike to Krasna

The Zamosc region was annexed to the Duchy of Warsaw founded by Napoleon in 1809.

When the Russians came to Poland in 1813, many German settlers found themselves in a desperate situation. This also applied to the colonists in the Zamosc area. These settlers had been through very troubled/difficult times:

• 1807 and 1809 change from Prussian and Austrian rule to Polish rule. They suffered greatly under the large landowners of Poland.
• The Napoleonic Wars brought them much suffering. In the Zamosc region in particular, there were several Napoleonic battles against Austria in 1809, during which 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.

This situation gave rise to the reasons for the onward migration of the people to Bessarabia.

The Krasna community report of 1848 says the following about the reason for the onward migration: "...The all-destructive war campaigns of the French to Russia via Poland deprived the colonists of almost all their possessions. The colonists felt that the torn Poland could not give them any security and protection for the future and followed the invitation issued by the Russian government at the time to settle in Bessarabia⁸."

Many members of these families moved to Bessarabia in 1814 and were co-founders of the Krasna colony.

Most of the colonists from the Zamosc area who migrated on to Krasna were probably born in Poland; there is no personal data on them unless and until we find sources in Poland.

The family fathers who emigrated from Germany in 1784/1785 were already between 20 and 50 years old when they arrived in Galicia. By the time they left for Bessarabia, some of them were no longer alive or had not moved on. In 1814, they were already quite old by the standards of the time (around 60 years and older).

In these families, children were born in the new (Polish) homeland between the time of immigration to Galicia and the onward migration to Bessarabia (approx. 30 years). It is likely that in many families these children in particular - or only these children - migrated onwards⁹.

According to Hopf, the following people moved to Russia from Zamosc in 1814¹⁰:

1. 739 Schpeicher, Johann 1814 Zamosc/Lublin/Dutchy of Warsaw Russia 634 5434271 with wife Gertrude Profession "Tenant"
2. 740 Schpeicher, Nicolaus 1814 Zamosc/Lublin/Dutchy of Warsaw Russia 634 5434271 with family
   Wife: not named
   Children: Katharina, Peter, Elisabeth, Barbara
3. 808 Speicher, Georg 1814 Zamosc/Lublin/Dutchy of Warsaw Russia 634 5434276¹¹ with family
   Wife: Elisabeth
   Children: Michael, Katharina, Gertrude, Anna-Maria, Johanna

As explained above, Johann and Nikolaus Speicher died in Sitaniec before the onward migration to Krasna began.

The Johann and Nikolaus Speicher named as onward migrants must therefore be children of these two. The wife of Johann Speicher Sr. was Katharina, for example, and that of the onward migrant Gertrude.

We do not know with absolute certainty who the first two onward migrants were, because children born in Sitaniec cannot be fully traced. From 1789 to 1810 we have no parish register entries at all. It is conceivable that there were other children in this period and they could be numbers 1 and 2.

Arrival in Krasna

We do not know whether all three of the onward hikers mentioned by Hopf wanted to go to Krasna or got there.

Family 1

No. 1 above seems to have come to Krasna. This is supported by entries in the baptismal register there:

739 Schpeicher, Johann 1814 Zamosc/Lublin/Dutchy of Warsaw Russia 634 5434271 with wife Gertrude Profession "Tenant"

The Krasna baptismal register records the birth of a daughter to the couple:

No. 235 *3.12.1819 Marianna Szpaycher (Speicher) Parents: Johannes Szpaycher and Gertrud (Gertrude) Szpaycher (Speicher)

Johannes SPEICHER ?Okt. 1785 in Poland, POL † deceased

Baptism: 18.10.1785 in Schitonitz, Warsaw, | Sitaniec, Zamosc, PL-06

? 1815 First settlers in Krasna #113

Ehegatte: Gertruda ? 1795 in Unknown, † deceased

? to 1812 in Poland, POL

Children

• Michael SPEICHER ? 30.08.1814 in Kischinew, Bessarabia, | † 13.05.1875 in Krasna,
  One son, born in 1852, died in Krasna in 1856, thus ending this line
• Marianna 1819 see above

The statement in OFD that a Michael Speicher was the father of Johann is not confirmed.

The church register of Sitaniec states:

Szprygier Jan liber 1785 O: Michal, M: Magdalena zd. Fulleynr, kolonisci niemieccy; Sitaniec

This could be the Springer family of colonists, as the name Speicher is usually translated in this medium as Szpraycher, Szpeicher, Szpaycher, Szpajcher, Szpeycher.

In this case, another Johann Speicher, who was born there, would be the onward migrant.

Family 2

No. 2's arrival in Krasna cannot be determined. Neither he himself nor his children named in the Hopf document appear in the baptismal register (e.g. as godparents) or in the local family register or other documents of the village.

Family 3

Family no. 3 has arrived in Krasna.

808 Speicher, Georg 1814 Zamosc/Lublin/Dutchy of Warsaw Russia 634 5434276¹² with family

Wife: Elisabeth

Children: Michael, Katharina, Gertrude, Anna-Maria, Johanna

However, Georg must have died very soon afterwards, as he no longer appears in Krasna documents (baptismal register 1814 - , census 1835).

Only the family of Georg Speicher is clearly documented in Krasna (see Johann and Nikolaus above). It appears in the baptismal register of the early years and other documents:

• Son Michael had a farm in 1835: # 97 in Census 1835
  Michael Speicher 40 - wife: Katharina 17
• likewise 1850: # 85 in Census 1850
  Michael Speicher 55 - wife: Katharina 32
• In the tax list 1835
  Michael Speicher 40 - wife: Katharina 17
• Georg and Nikolaus are named among the landowners in 1871, both sons of Michael from the family of the immigrant Georg Speicher.

Descendants of Georg Speicher lived in Krasna until the resettlement of the Germans from Bessarabia in 1940. Klara Speicher was the last member of the family to be born in Krasna on 15.02.1940.

Note: The name Speicher occurs in Bessarabia only in Krasna.

Eduard Volk
Neuwied, Juli 2024
Eduard's ancestor is Klemens VOLK

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¹ Source: "Die Familie Speicher aus Püttlingen und ihre Verzweigung vor 1730" rom Jacob Müller , Periodika der ASF, Bd. 3, Heft 46, Seite 398.

² The year before, Michael Speicher and Ferdinand Speicher had gone to Eastern Galicia. However, none of their family members came to Krasna

³ Franz Wilhelm und Josef Kallbrunner: Quellen zur deutschen Siedlungsgeschichte in Südosteuropa, München, Reinhardt, 1936

⁴ Ausweis über die in den Königreichen Galizien mit Ende des 1786ten Jahrs vorfindige deutsche Privat-Ansiedler sowohl Bauern als Handwerksleute und über den Bestand ihrer Dotierung.
Abgeschlossen Lemberg, 14. Hornung 1788. - Hofkammerarchiv Faszikel 6925, Nr. 30 vom 30. März 1788.

⁵ How <sup>3

6</sup> Quellen zur deutschen Siedlungsgeschichte in Südosteuropa, Wilhelm, Franz; Kallbrunner, Josef

⁷ How <sup>3

8</sup> This refers to the appeal of the Russ. Government of 1813

⁹ Note: The church register of Sitaniec is incomplete. The years from 1789 - 1809 are completely missing, so that we only find entries from 1810 - 1815 again.

¹⁰ Records of the National Socialist German Labor Party (NSDAP) [National Archives Microcopy No. T-81]
American Historical Association American Committee for the Study of War Documents
Washington 1956. "9. Verzeichnis von Dr. Hopf (Krakau) über die Auswanderung aus Polen (Herzogtum Warschau) nach Rußland (Allgemein)." Page 54, # 739 National Archives II, College Park, Maryland, USA

¹¹ Source: Records of the National Socialist German Labor Party (NSDAP). National Archives Microcopy # T-81; American Historical Association, American Committee for the Study of War Documents, Washington 1956. "9. Verzeichnis von Dr. Hopf (Krakau) über die Auswanderung aus Polen (Herzogtum Warschau) nach Rußland (Allgemein)"; page 59 #808; National Archives II, College Park, Maryland, USA.

¹² Source: Records of the National Socialist German Labor Party (NSDAP). National Archives Microcopy # T-81; American Historical Association, American Committee for the Study of War Documents, Washington 1956. "9. Verzeichnis von Dr. Hopf (Krakau) über die Auswanderung aus Polen (Herzogtum Warschau) nach Rußland (Allgemein)"; page 59 #808; National Archives II, College Park, Maryland, USA.