Köhler

Minkh

Köhler, pages 474-477.

Karaul’ny Buerak, a.k.a. K(o)eler, German colony, Kamyshin uyezd (district), Kamenka volost, from 1895 – Semenovka volost. It is located 50 degrees 34' North in latitude and 15 degrees 4’ East in longitude from Pulkovo, 120 verstas from Saratov and 55 – from the uyezd town Kamyshin, on the right bank of the Ilovlya River, a little bit lower than the Karaul’ny Buerak River inflow into it. The colony takes its name from the river’s name. According to Klaus (Our Colonies, 1869) the colony was founded in 1764-1766; according to Kamenka Volost Board K(o)eler was founded in 1764; and according to the Collection of the Province Zemstvo – in 1763-1764.

The Germans-Catholics came here from Bavaria and from the Rhine provinces of Elzass and Lotharingia.

According to the 1859 List of Foreign Settlers (Klaus Our Colonies) Karaul’ny Buerak belonged to Kamenka County and had: according to census #5 (1788) – 84 families, 259 males and 252 females; according to census #6 (1798) – 92 families, 303 males and 313 females; according to census #7 (1816) – 134 families, 455 males and 446 females; according to census #8 (1834) – 193 families, 793 males and 790 females; according to census #9 (1850) – 269 families, 1,095 males and 1,087 females; according to census #10 (1857) – 256 families, 1,204 males and 1,192 females.

According to the list of settlements of the Central Statistics Committee, published in 1862, the German colony Karaul’ny Buerak a.k.a. Koeler was shown by the Ilovlya River, 57 verstas from the uyezd city Kamyshin. In 1860 there were in it: 219 households, 1,199 males and 1,195 females, total: 2,394 persons of both sexes; 1 Roman Catholic Church, 1 school, 1 oil-mill, 2 flour mills. In 1861, 1864 and 1872 11 families (32 males and 28 females) moved to Samara Province. In 1870 and 1874 17 families (43 males and 39 females) moved to Kuban’. In 1874 3 males and 3 females moved to Ilovlya Volost. In 1877 33 families (142 males and 118 females that were not mentioned in census #10, i.e. they came after this census) and in 1886 25 families (54 males and 51 females that were not mentioned in census #10) moved to America and Argentina republic. From 1875 to 1880 11 males and 4 females mentioned in the census and 8 males and 3 females not mentioned in the census were excluded from the community because they were moving to Siberia. 2 males were sent to Siberia by the court order. 1 male was excluded as he moved to another estate. According to 1886 Zemstvo Census there were in Koeler: 384 households, 1,550 males and 1,446 females, total: 2,996 people of both sexes, also there were 70 families constantly absent. 554 males and 761 females were literate.

There were 489 inhabited houses, 250 of those were made of stone and brick, 237 - of wood and 2 – of daub and wattle; roofs of 310 of those were made of wood, 171 – of straw, 8 – of soil. There were 21 industrial enterprises, 2 taverns, 2 stores. The peasants had 392 ploughs, 1,417 horses (both working and non-working), 376 oxen, 1,083 cows and calves, 2,464 sheep, 1,123 pigs and 132 goats. In 1885 annual fees and duties amounted to 11,276 rubles. The allotted land was 8,731 dessiatinas of convenient land (including 6,035 dessiatinas of arable land) and 4,230 dessiatinas of inconvenient land, total: 12,961 dessiatinas. According to the German Colonies’ Land Valuation Committee there were 35 dessiatinas 1,920 sazhens of land taken by barns, 197 dessiatinas were under houses and kitchen-gardens, 5,681 dessiatinas 1,920 sazhens – arable land, 555 dessiatinas 960 sazhens of meadowland, 603 dessiatinas 1,440 sazhens of forest, 1,656 dessiatinas of pasture, and 4,231 dessiatinas 1,440 sazhens of inconvenient land. The allotment is in one piece close to the settlement, near the Ilovlya. From the Ilovlya River the allotment stretches 18 verstas to the west being 7-8 verstas wide. The forest is in the farthest end of the allotment, 15-18 verstas from the settlement. The meadowland is close to the settlement along the Ilovlya, on both sides of the settlement, it’s 2-3 verstas long. Watering places are in the Ilovlya and in 10 field ponds. The soil is different: about 2/3 is sandy loam, chernozem (black soil), loam, saline soil. It is ½ arshin deep. Subsoil is clay. The locality is hilly and has 8 ravines that take up to 60 dessiatinas. Old people say that from the time they settled here and for 20-30 years they ploughed where they wanted. Then the land was divided between families. From 1858 to 1875 they drew casting lots every 6 years and redistributed the land according to the number of males, mentioned in the census. From 1875 they started distributing land according to the number of available males for 6 years. The land was divided by tens (10 males). From that time 550 dessiatinas of pasture was ploughed. Meadowland is forest, steppe and meadow (200 dessiatinas are divided each year according to the number of males). The deciduous forest (up to 555 dessiatinas) by the order of the colony authorities was divided in 1867-68 into 24 plots. Every year one of them is cut out. The forest is under 40 years old. The houses are heated with kizyaks and firewood. Land for kitchen-gardens is distributed at the same time with arable land every 6 years. They grow cabbage, potatoes, and they also sow hemp. There are two wooden bread-reserves stores with board roofs. They belong to the community. They sow wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, flax. Artel’ of 31 householders rented a plot of land (220 dessiatinas of convenient and inconvenient land) behind Karaul’ny Buerak during a period of 6 years for 700 rubles annually from Ust-Gryaznukha community. In 1887 the colony had 1 cooper, 5 blacksmiths, 13 wheelwrights, 2 stove-setters, 4 carpenters, 1 chenille maker, 6 cloth weavers, 4 woodworkers, 17 shoemakers. In 1887 the community got 225 rubles of income from the mills, and 300 rubles from leasing different plots of the community land. The money is used for secular needs. There were 2 schools in the colony: Church school, which charged 8 kopecks per student for teaching reading in German and 18 kopecks per student for teaching reading and writing in German. The teacher got bread: 140 dry measures of wheat, 100 dry measures of rye, and he got money too - 101 rubles a year. There were 500 students there in 1887. There is also a private school that had 40 students. Each student paid 6 rubles a year. According to the Saratov Province Statistics Committee (1891) the colony Karaul’ny Buerak is situated 14 verstas away from the Volost Board in Kamenka. The colony Karaul’ny Buerak had 367 households, 1,935 males and 1,189 females, total: 3,124 settlers of both sexes. According to the 1894 Province Zemstvo Board List of Settlements, the colony Karaul’ny Buerak, a.k.a. K(o)eler is situated on the right bank of the Ilovlya River. The colony has 1 St. Michael Archangel Roman Catholic Church, wooden with metal roof, built to replace the old one and sanctified in 1864. There is a pastorate and a church school by the church. The school was founded at the time of the settlement foundation. Besides there are in the colony: Zemstvo school (since 1884), 1 public smithy, 194 wells. In 1894 there were 374 yards, 470 buildings, among them: 1 wooden with a metal roof, 121 wooden with board roofs, 89 wooden with straw roofs; 1stone building with a metal roof, 151 stone buildings with board roofs, 107 stone buildings with straw roofs. The settlement was built according to a plan, approved earlier. There is one community in the colony, in 1894 there were 1,993 males and 1,775 females, total: 3,768 people of both sexes. They were Germans, Catholics; also there is 1 clergyman. They are farmers, besides there are 4 weavers, 2 shoemakers, 2 spinners, 1 wagon maker, 1 cooper, 5 blacksmiths. The community has used 12,961 dessiatinas of land since 1871: 8,731 dessiatinas of convenient and 4,230 dessiatinas of inconvenient land. It is considered that K(o)eler is 15 verstas from the Volost village Kamenka (in the north), 4 verstas from the colony Ilovlya (in the south-east), 10 verstas from the colony Semenovka (to the south-west), 23 verstas from the village Nereshchinny, 24 verstas from the khutor Serpokrylov, 7 – from the colony Gnilushka (to the north), 3 – from the colony Panovka (in the north-east), 33 – from the dock on the river Nizhnyaya Bannovka, 35 – from the station Netkachevo of the Tambov-Kamyshin railroad), 56 – from the uyezd town Kamyshin, and 125 verstas from Saratov. (1891 Collection of Province Zemstvo, Volume XI; Klaus Our Colonies; Maps: 1892 ordnance survey map of the General Staff and 1894 Zemstvo map).

Translation and notes by Dr. Lyudmila I. Koretnikova

Translators Notes:
Pulkovo - 15 kilometers from St. Petersburg. The main observatory is located here. The observatory was built in 1833-39, 75 meters above the sea level, in latitude 59* 19' 40" North. Pulkovo meridian is in longitude 30* 19' 40" East from Greenwich.

Kuban, river in the Caucasus region of Russia. Kuban originates on the northern slope of the Caucasus Mountains west of Mount Elbrus and flows north through the mountains, turning west below the town of Nevinnomyssk. It crosses a broad upland area before entering the plain above Krasnodar, the principal city along its banks. In its lower course it crosses the flat, marshy Taman Peninsula in several shifting channels, which flow into either the Sea of Azov or the Black Sea. The river is 910 km (560 mi) long and drains more than 59,000 sq km (23,000 sq mi) of territory; it is navigable along its last 240 km (150 mi). The Kuban has virtually no right-bank tributaries; those on the left include the Urup, Laba, and Belaya. The river's name was taken by the Kuban cossacks, who first settled along the northern banks in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

1 verst(a) – 3,500 feet; 1.06 km.

Zemstvo - elective district council in pre-revolutionary Russia.

Dessiatina - measure of land = 2.7 acres.

Sazhen – 2.134 meters. 

Arshin – 0.71 meter.

Kizyak - pressed dung used as fuel.

Artel - co-operative association of workmen or peasants.

Minkh remarks in the footnote that this is an obvious mistake in the data of the Committee.