When did the first settlers come to Rohrbach and who?

Let's reconstruct the succession:

1. The original group of settlers in 1809 totaled 26 families, and given its close proximity to Worms, the Colonists from both villages may have traveled together to South Russia.

2. In 1810 an additional 69 families arrived. As in Worms (read "Black Sea Worms"), construction of houses was not completed until 1810.

According to Dr. Karl Stumpp of the 100 plus families that settled in Rohrbach,

• 33 came from Baden, 
• 4 from Württemberg, 
• 12 from the Pfalz, 
• 7 from Prussian Poland and 
• 44 from Alsace. 

Other sources lump the Colonists from the Pfalz and Alsace together since both were French territory.

"The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763-1862" by Dr. Karl Stumpp is often referred to simply as "the Stumpp book." It contains 1,018 pages of history, research, maps, and lists (emigrants, colonies, census, passports, etc.).

3. Additional families continued to arrive in 1813:

• 22 from Prussian Poland and 
• 4 from Württemberg. 

4. Between 1817 and 1819,

• 16 additional families from Baden and 
• 6 additional families from other colonies settled in Rohrbach. 

Among the names of 111 original Rohrbach settlers, the Schochenmaiers are not to be found(((

http://rohrbachrussia.ancestryhost.org/rg6.htm

Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Step, (Bismarck, North Dakota:

North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1975) pp. 87-88.

By 1838 the population of Rohrbach totaled 683 individuals, comprising 148 families.

The first Schochenmaier, who was born in Rohrbach (Beresan Colony, Odessa Region), is Margaretha Schochenmaier, born on September 1852, daughther of Ludwig Schochenmaier (about 1830) and Katharina Kuprijahn (or Kuprian) (about 1833). Taking this fact into account, we may conclude that the Schochenmaiers apparently had come to Rohrbach between 1813 and 1852.   

Where did the first settlers come to Rohrbach from?

There is a long tradition: new names of the settlements reflected the geography and the origin of their settlers (York - New York, etc.). According to the 1848 Schoolmaster's Report for Rohrbach, written by Schoolmaster Fritschle, two Colonists who had originated in Rohrbach, Germany, gave the Russian village of Rohrbach its name. They were Peter Schmidt and Peter Nuss.

That is why I suggest that the very first settlers of the Black Sea Rohrbach came from the Palatinate Rohrbach in Germany. There are at least 6 places named Rohrbach in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France, but the Beresan colony took its source from the regions of Palatinate, Württemberg and partly Baden.

The geographical position of German Rohrbach in the Palatinate:

Rohrbach is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. This German Rohrbach isn't known, it's a village to be mentioned in 693 for the first time ( Ph. Elsner: Rittergeschlechter des niederen Adels im späten Mittelalter und ihre Burg in Rohrbach. Ein Beitrag zur Ortsgeschichte des südpfälzischen Dorfes Rohrbach in der Verbandsgemeinde Herxheim. Rohrbach, 1993).

Till the end of the 18th century it was belonging to the Electoral Palatinate. It was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire (1085-1803), a palatinate administered by a count palatine. Its rulers served as prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire from "time immemorial", were noted as such in a papal letter of 1261, and were confirmed as electors by the Golden Bull of 1356. The Electoral Palatinate was a much larger territory than what later became known as the Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz), on the left bank of the Rhine, and is now the modern region of the Palatinate in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate and parts of the French region of Alsace (bailiwick of Seltz from 1418 to 1766). The Electoral Palatinate also included territory lying on the east bank of the Rhine, containing the cities of Heidelberg and Mannheim.

Map of the Oberämter of the Electoral Palatinate in 1789:

Prefectures: 1 Frankenthal, 2 Mannheim, 3 Heidelberg.
Districts: 4 Alzey, 5 Bacharach, 6 Germersheim, 7 Kreuznach, 8 Neustadt, 9 Lautern, 10 Lauterecken, 11 Oppenheim, 12 Simmern, 13 Stromberg, 14 Veldenz, 15 Boxberg, 16 Bretten, 17 Heidelberg, 18 Ladenburg, 19 Lindenfels, 20 Mosbach, 21 Otzberg, 22 Umstadt (with Hessen-Darmstadt).

Rohrbach is to be found on the territory of Germersheim, Nr. 6.

In 1742, the Palatinate was inherited by Charles Theodore, Duke of Sulzbach. Charles Theodore also inherited the Electorate of Bavaria when its ruling line became extinct in 1777. Charles Theodore's heir, Maximilian Joseph, Duke of Zweibrücken (on the French border), brought all the Wittelsbach territories under a single rule in 1799. The Palatinate was dissolved in the Wars of the French Revolution. First, its left bank territories were occupied, and then annexed, by France starting in 1795; then, in 1803, its right bank territories were taken by the Margrave of Baden. It was one of the first reason why people started to emigrate from that area. The Rhenish Palatinate, as a distinct territory, disappeared. In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire was abolished, and all the rights and responsibilities of the electors with it (Kohnle A. (2005). "Mittelalterliche Grundlagen; Pfalzgraftenamt, Territorialentwicklung und Kurwürde". Kleine Geschichte der Kurpfalz [A short history of the Electoral Palatinate]. Regionalgeschichte-fundiert und kompakt (in German) Karlsruhe: G. Braun Buchverlag)

The geographical position of German Worms, second village where first settlers came from:

Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River about 60 kilometres (40 mi) south-southwest of Frankfurt-am-Main. Worms played prominently into the Protestant Reformation in the early sixteenth century, the site of Martin Luther's stand before the 1521 Diet of Worms, and also the birthplace of the first Bibles of the Reformation, German and English.
In 1792 the city was occupied by troops of the French First Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Bishopric of Worms was secularized in 1801, with the city being annexed into the First French Empire. In 1815 Worms passed to the Grand Duchy of Hesse in accordance with the Congress of Vienna and subsequently administered within Rhenish Hesse.

So, we may conclude that, according to one of the possible theories, our ancestors came from the area situated not far from the region between Worms and Rohrbach. 

What do we know about Rohrbach (part 2)

Rohrbach, located four miles southeast of Worms, was founded in 1809 as was Worms.

http://rohrbachrussia.ancestryhost.org/rg3.htm

A History and Description of the German Colony in the Ukraine, South Russia 1848 

(from here http://www.grhs.org/vr/vhistory/rohrbach.htm)

With complete confidence in the privileges promised by His Majesty, Alexander I of Russia, the German emigrants left their fatherland forever and came here with all they possessed, hoping to find permanent happiness for themselves and their descendants. The settlers of the colony of Rohrbach came to this uninhabited steppeland to come under the jurisdiction and patronage of His Excellency the Governor, Duke of Richelieu. In the fall of 1809, 25 families arrived, and in 1810, 68 families arrived. On their arrival they received their status as colonists, founded the colony and proceeded to build houses for themselves.

The colony is located on the almost level steppe on the east side of the Zerigul Valley, 20 versts1 (13 miles) southwest of the Teligul, 10 miles north of the Tschitschekle and 26 miles west of the Bug River. It is about 86 miles from Cherson, the capital city of the government, and 66 miles from Odessa, the administrative center of the district. To Landau, the administrative center of the area, it is 13 miles.

Opposite the main village, on the southwest eminence of the valley, lies Halbdorf (or Bergdorf) with its beautiful houses built ten years ago (1838X, now numbering some 36 houses. From Halbdorf, the entire colony of Rohrbach can be viewed.

All along the rear of the village of Rohrbach, above the threshing place, are located the vineyards, enclosed by stone walls. The village lies in a north-south direction, bending slightly to the southwest at its center, following the valley. The so-called valley of the Zerigul, which has no riverbed, has its source a little over a mile above the colony on the outskirts of Worms, which is located about four miles from here. The mouth of the Zerigul is at Ribowa on the Tilgul estuary, 17 miles from here. The wells of Rohrbach provide plenty of water with here and there excellent drinking waters. Despite the many dry years, the community has always been spared from a real shortage of water.

Viewed from the heights, the colony with its beautiful vegetable gardens and orchards of apple, pear, prune, plum, cherry, and apricot trees together with beautiful poplar, aspen, willow and acacia (locust} trees, in all some 4-5,000 trees, presents a wonderful sight. The accumulated earth in the valley from the dam always assures the industrious gardner a rich growth of vegetables. Less attractive, however, are the manure piles above the valley, in many places 15 to 18 feet high.

Our generally level steppe is well located, the surface throughout having from one to two feet of fertile soil mixed with some sand. Here and there, however, in the southern part, there are patches of saltpeter, which are productive only when rain is plentiful. When the weather is favorable, not only does the grass grow abundantly, but also all plants quickly grow to an unusual height. Since, however, it often doesn't rain for eight to ten weeks, the soil then becomes as dust and ashes from the heat and the dry winds, and the farmer can harvest barely enough for seed.

The subsoil is generally a chalky, red clay, hard to work, and the reason given that in our area the productive characteristics of the soil are short-lived. For this reason, the soil must invariably be refertilized. Woodlands are out of the question; even the vineyards are not of much consequence. The most of these have only 600 to 1,000 vines with the total for the entire village amounting to about 34,000.