Michael Ternes, *05.11.1854 in Krasna, +02.05.1928 belongs to the large Krasna clan of the Ternes.
The name Ternes only exists in Krasna, in no other Bessarabian colony.
The family comes from Pluwig, Trier-Saarburg district.
Johann Terres is the first of this family in the church register of Gusterath, which begins with the baptisms around 1725, the marriages and 1736.
Johann Terres *1730? oo 09.01.1759 with Helena Weber *16.08.1739
Her parents:
by Johannes Terres (Johannes Terres from Pluwig and Catharina Klein from Gusterrath) and
by Helena Weber (Jakob Weber and Elisabeth Müller).
Your children
Johann Terres emigrated to Galicia with his family in 1784.
It can be said with some certainty that Johann Ternes Sr. stayed in Zamosc and did not move on to Bessarabia. After all, he would have been 85 years old in 1814.
It is Johann Ternes *21.12.1764 (entry in the Gusterath family register states that he died in Poland in 1784. However, he was at least still alive in 1791, as his first son was born in that year. According to the Krasna church register, Johann was married to Elisabeth Zink[1].
The Zink family were also among the private settlers in the Zamosc area.
As Johann first met Elisabeth Zink in Galicia, the marriage could have taken place in 1785 or later at the earliest. As she is listed as Martin's mother, she must have died after 1804.
Johannes was then married a second time. The 1835 census of Krasna shows under “Widows Without Children (1835)” #136: Anna Maria Ternes 69 (born about 1766). She could have been Johannes' second wife.
Johann Ternes moved on to Krasna with his wife Marianne in 1814.
Hopf "Verzeichnis von Dr. Hopf über die Auswanderung aus Polen (Herzogtum Warschau) nach Rußland": Ternes, Johann Lublin, Wife: Marianne, Children: Elisabeth, Marianne, Peter, Johann, Martin, Andreas
Now we come to Michael Ternes. His grandfather is Martin TERNES ?1802, his father Hieronymus Ternes 1833-1899, and he himself was born in 1854.
He was one of the first recruits who should have become a Russian soldier after the expiry of Emperor Alexander I of Russia's charter. However, the recruits in his class decided to emigrate rather than serve the Russians as soldiers for five years.
Seven comrades emigrated from Krasna to Dobruja, which was still Turkish at the time. Michael Ternes was one of them.
After much wandering to find a new home, from Caraibil near Tulcea to Taschaul in the district of Konstanza and back again, they arrived in 1878 in the German settlement of Karamurat, which in the following 60 years had become the most beautiful and richest community in Dobruja.
Michael Ternes, the son of one of the richest farmers and mill owners in Bessarabia, came to Dobrudja with a good foundation and prerequisites in order to fulfill his father's wish to become one of the richest men there, as his father had been in his old homeland. He soon proved to be a good businessman and by 1904 had bought 600 hectares of farmland.
Despite many strokes of fate, e.g.
When King Karol I of Romania heard about him, he visited him on a Sunday afternoon and presented him with the “Corona României” award, the Royal Order of the Crown, for his services in the field of agriculture.
It did not stop at 600 hectares, but by the First World War it had grown to 1124 hectares. He was one of the largest German landowners in Dobruja.
Michael Ternes lent a lot of money to his fellow citizens, mainly those who had had bad luck with their livestock, had burned down or wanted to buy more land.
During the First World War, he was interned as a hostage by the Romanians for 18 months; he returned as a sick man and died in 1928, having provided well and amply for his ten children from three marriages and raised them to be good economists.
Eduard Volk
Neuwied, May 2024
Eduard's ancestor is Klemens VOLK
[1] MARRIAGE-PARENTS: 1860 Marriage Records of Krasna. Extractions from the Diocesan books.
Reg # 05: Martin age 58, a widower, son of Johann Ternes & Elisabetha Zink; married the widow Anna Maria Schlick, nee Wagner on 6 June 1860.
[2] Sources:
Ihre Leistungen sollten nicht vergessen werden Bedeutende Persönlichkeiten der Dobrudschadeutschen / By Erhardt Freymayer published on July 18, 2008 in the ADZ ("Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung für Rumänien") https://www.bessarabien.de/upload/06-11.pdf - Page 11
Michael Ternes, by Anton Ternes, (edited by Gerlinde Stiller-Leyer published by Heimatbuch der Dobrudscha-Deutschen - Page 146